
(lass T 
Book 



i 

THE 



bv^RiOA-;: 



PRINCIPLES OF COURTESY: 






HINTS AND OBSERVATIONS 



MANNERS AND HABITS. 



GEORGE WINFRED HERVEY. 



** A Cliristian is God Almighty's gentleman : a gentleman, in the vulgar, 
Buperficial way of understanding the word, is the Devil's Christian." 

Archdeacon Hare. 



NEW YORK: 

HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, 

Nos. 329 AND 331 PEARL STREET, 

(FRANKLIN SQUARE.) 

18 5 2. 



^-s 






Eiiiered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S52, by 

HARPER & BROTHERS, 
Tn tlie Clerk's Office of the Southern District of New York. 



PREFACE. 

It is the design of this work to ilkistvate and enforce the 
duty of Christian courtesy. The author was induced to write 
it by observing that nearly all who have treated of manners, 
have inculcated pernicious opinions, appealed to unworthy 
motives, and taught a heartless and selfish system of polite- 
ness. Much of their adnce a Christian cannot too carefully 
shun. "Without pretending to remarkable piety or surpassing- 
refinement, or presuming to pronounce a beatitude on those 
who may regard his own suggestions, he cannot but heartily 
respond to the words of the royal Psalmist : " Blessed is the 
man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly." 

It is with unfeigned regret that the author is thus com- 
pelled to warn his readers against the sentiments of many of 
this class of writers ; for they have all intended to benefit the 
world, and have in some respects been highly useful to it. 
They have difiiised among all classes a knowledge of their 
lesser rights and duties, enlightened their notions of decorum, 
refined what was coarse, raised the mean to manliness, and 
taught benevolence to stoop to small services. They are gen- 
erally handled without mercy where they are innocent, and 
treated with clemency where they are faulty. Those who 
keenly feel the application of their rules of propriety, cast forth 



IV PKEFACE. 

broad charges against them, while they adopt without a mur- 
mur their debasing principles, because they are but too con- 
genial with their depraved desires. Those who expose the 
defects of their principles, too often unjustly condemn theii* 
many excellent precepts along with those defects, and hastily 
conclude that good-breeding is inseparable from bad morals. 
But apart from their mischievous ethics, it may truly be said, 
that no class of writers in the whole range of secular Hterature 
has done more to improve the social condition of mankind. 

The author is not aware that any work of this kind, in- 
tended for the perusal of Christians in general, has hitherto 
been attempted. He has happened to enter what is, in some 
sort, untravelled territory : for while some writers have 
touched upon it here and there, none have gone far beyond 
the secular customs of polished society. He has one time or 
another read many of the works on manners, which have been 
written during the last four hundred years, and knows not how 
widely they may have diffused then- spirit over these pages. 
Two or three of them have afforded him direct aid : yet the 
work is substantially the result of independent observation and 
thought. Many of the following rules were suggested while 
studying the sacred statutes and the observances of primitive 
believers. Some very valuable precepts, however, have been 
derived from contemporary examples of courtesy, who, while 
they were unaffectedly obeying the refined dictates of evan- 
gelical love, were unwittingly furnishing matter for these 
pages. 

It is not for such that this is written ; but for those who, 
from whatever cause, are wont to overlook some of the tender 
chanties of life. Yet the author ventures to affirm, that those 



PREFACE. V 

T\-ho fancy they are already sufiiciently courteous, are daily 
growing more unlike what they imagine themselves to be, and 
that those who seem to themselves least to need admonitions 
on this subject, ought most to heed them. 

In laying down rules of propriety, the writer has not noticed 
matters of common decency on the one hand, or those of tem- 
poraiy and local etiquette on the other. He has aimed to 
treat of those observances of propriety and elegance which 
are practised always, and wherever the English language is 
spoken. He has also sought to keep clear of sectarian and 
denominational peculiarities, and to make his work useful to 
Christians of every sect and name. 

He has addressed his work to Christians, not because he 
thinks them singularly deficient in com-tesy or in general re- 
finement. They number among them persons of every cul- 
ture, condition, and rank, and in respect of manners are not 
distinguishable from the rest of mankind, except so far as the 
ameliorating power of their religion has made them peculiar. 
His design has been to provide a safe guide, not only for the 
Christian, but for all men. He has not as yet been able to 
comprehend how there can be more than one authoritative 
code of morals. He believes that none but the evangehcal 
code can be taught either with impunity or advantage, and 
that it defines the duties of every human being, as well the 
duties of the man of the world as those of the Christian. 

May this work, in connection with other instrumentalities, 
so guide some pious pilgiim along the narrow way, that he 
shall finally be presented before the presence of the King in 
Zion, without " spot or wrinkle, or any such thing." 



CONTENTS. 



Page 
Introduction xiii 



PAET I. 

THE SPIRIT OF COURTESY. 

CHAPTER I. 
Humility 



CHAPTER II. 



CHAPTER III. 
Cheerfulness 45 

CHAPTER IV. 
Gentleness 52 

CHAPTER V. 
Courage 58 

CHAPTER VI. 
Meekness 62 



VIU CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER VII. 
Sensibilitt 



CHAPTER Vni. 
Delicacy 73 



CHAPTER IX. 

Propriety 



CHAPTER X. 
Sincerity , 



CHAPTER XI. 
Zeal 97 



PAKT II. 

THE FORMS OF COURTESY IN RELIGIOUS SOCIETY. 

CHAPTER I. 
Order 107 

CHAPTER II. 
Deportment at Church 116 

CHAPTER III. 
Posture iv Prayer 126 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Page 
Posture of a Congregatiox dcrixg the Sixgixq of a Choir. , 181 

CHAPTER V. 

The Gexeral Deportment of a Congregation during Singing 135 

CHAPTER VI. 
The Deportment of Choirs 189 



CHAPTER VH. 
The Deportment at Prayer-meetings 142 



CHAPTER VHL 
Marriage Ceremonies 145 



CHAPTER IX. 
Funerals and Mourning 149 



CHAPTER X. 
Eccentricities 15*7 



CHAPTER XL 
Cant 



CHAPTER XII. 
Rant , 11% 

CHAPTER XIIL 

Christian Sociabilitt .....,•...,,.,.,. 1*75 

1^ 



X CONTENTS. 

PAET III. 

THE FORMS OF COURTESY IN SECULAR SOCIETY. 
CHAPTER I. 

Page 
Honor axd Precedence 185 

CHAPTER XL 
Salutations 190 

CHAPTER HI. 
Deportment in the Street 194 

CHAPTER IV. 
Travelling 198 

CHAPTER V. 
Hospitality 208 

CHAPTER VI. 
The Table 217 

CHAPTER VII. 
Dress 225 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Visits and Calls 239 

CHAPTER IX. 
Sunday Visiting , 243 



CONTENTS. XI 



CHAPTER X. 

Page 
Visiting the Sick 247 



CHAPTER XI. 
Visiting the Poor 251 

CHAPTER Xn. 
The Simplicity of True Beneficence 255 

CHAPTER XHI. 

The Duties of the New Convert to his former Companions 264 

CHAPTER XIV. 

The Intercourse of the Christian with the World 268 

CHAPTER XV. 
The Divine Law of Complaisance 21'? 

CHAPTER XVI. 
..^^ Flexibility of Manners and Inflexibility of Principle 287 



INTEODUCTION. 

Christian courtesy is tlie becoming expression of love to 
God and man in every sphere of social intercourse. The term 
has a more extensive signification than is commonly attached 
to pohteness, which means elegance of exterior manners, with- 
out regard to disposition or motive. Courtesy is not' only a 
practical, but an internal virtue ; it is the union of pleasing- 
manners with benevolent feelings — a union both intimate and 
congenial. It is evangelical charity enthroned in the soul, 
dictating to her compliant and graceful minister, the outward 
conduct. 

Love to God is an essential element of Christian courtesy. 
Whatever affection for a fellow-creature any may boast of, if it 
is not coupled with love to the Creator, it must be radically 
defective. We cannot perform all the services we owe to our 
neighbor, while we are withholding the services due to God. 
Were courtesy no more than the art of general complaisance, it 
would be practised most successfully by disregarding the first 
table of the law, since, at present, the generality of men are 
best pleased when it is consigned to forgetfulness. But this 
virtue consults first what is kind, then what is pleasing. By 
being dutiful to God, the Chiistian may occasionally fail to 



XIV INTRODUCTION. 

gratify his neighbors, but he will in general promote their en- 
during hajDpiness. 

Courtesy claims the dignity of a Christian virtue, originat- 
ing in divine grace, and constantly dependent on it for vigor 
and growth. It should not be confounded with that natural 
desire of pleasing, which is cherished by all persons towards 
those whose approbation or affection they wish to win. This 
desire is selfish, and he who cherishes it exclusively, expends 
his attentions on such only as are connected with him by some 
tie of interest. It is this principle that commonly actuates all 
those services which men include under the name of poKte- 
ness. It prompts the man of the world to show respect for a 
superior, esteem for an equal, or kindness to an inferior, who 
may have it in his power to do him an injury or confer on him 
a benefit. The social feelings express themselves by a lan- 
guage generally tender, sometimes elegant. Each sex natu- 
rally aims to preserve towards the other a delicate and pleas- 
ing deportment.^ Accordingly the masters in the school of 
fashionable politeness, direct persons to the company of the 
opposite sex as best adapted to its cultivation. But true cour- 
tesy, while it is refined by good society, and cheers every re- 
lation in hfe, rises out of the well-spring of grace in the re- 
newed soul, and sends its refreshing influence alike to the 
lovely and the hateful, the beneficent and the injurious. 

Many religious professors suppose they have fully obeyed 
the apostohc precept, " Be courteous,'" when they have be- 
haved agreeably to what is termed the dictates of gentility, 

^ " Viris propter foeminas et feminis propter viros*vitio naturae in- 
genita est placendi volunt&s "—Tertullia7i. Also 1 Cor. 7 : 33, 34. 
= 1 Pet. 3 : 8. 



INTRODUCTION^ XV 

•whicli is a certain delicacy of mind, quite consistent with ex- 
treme corruption of heart. Such persons by their conformity 
to the world, virtually deny that the power of the gospel can 
refine and polish the manners. People of fashion are unable 
to discover in them that dignity, kindness, and sincerity which 
belong to the children of God. Beholding their servile hom- 
age to fashion and folly, they contemptuously echo in their 
eai-s the words of their professed Master : " What do ye more 
than others ?" 

The Scnptures teach a courtesy of which the politeness of 
the world is only the cold and lifeless image. They recom- 
mend a tenderness and dehcacy of disposition, whose outward 
signs men of the world sometimes exhibit, but which Chris- 
tians only are wont inwardly to nurture. The benevolence, 
the meekness and gentleness which Christians embody in their 
conduct, cannot be fitly manifested to the world through the 
same forms that are used by persons of an opposite spirit. 
Hence it was that our dinne Master, finding mankind practis- 
ing a code of manners ill suited to the character of his dis- 
ciples, taught them the peculiar deportment which " becom- 
eth saints ;" at the same time exhibiting in himself a pattern 
of courtesy which all his followers, in all ages, might imitate 
and admire. Men of the world have not been insensible to 
the truth that the evangelical precepts teach whatever is pleas- 
ing in beha^dor, and whatever is requisite to regulate the com- 
merce of society. But they have yielded only a partial and 
external comphance with these holy rules, supplying their sup- 
posed deficiencies by the addition of corrupt and corrupting 
maxims of their own. They have undertaken to improve on 
the work of a divine hand, supposing, as it seems, that their 



XVI INTKODUCTION. 

own superficial systems furnish safer and more elegant rules 
of conduct than those which may be drawn fi-om the oracles 
of God. RutiHus Rufus, as Tully informs us, was wont to say 
that no painter could supply the parts of the picture of Venus, 
which Apelles left unfinished at Cos, the beauty of the face 
which he had completed making all artists despair of painting 
the rest of the body. If the Sacred Scriptures be incomplete 
as a system of moral duties, these authors cannot attempt to 
supply its defects without betraying their own work, and mar- 
ring the beauty of the divine original. They may, and un- 
doubtedly should, give to society laws of propriety, which are 
only intimated by the sacred institutes. But, while they are 
not hmited to the letter of Scripture, they ought never to vio- 
late its spirit. 

The writer is aware that less copiousness and less particu- 
larity would have rendered his work more acceptable to some. 
He trusts, however, that the generality of readers will duly ap- 
preciate the more practical portions of this work. They will 
here meet with nothing more minute than they find in some 
parts of the epistles of Petei-, and Paid, and John, and it can 
be shown from these their writings, that they descended to 
particulars in their verbal more than they did in their written 
communications to the churches. There is not, to be sure, equal 
definiteness to be found in the works of many of our practical 
religious writers, who, it is to be feared, deal too largely in 
general principles. And this has especially been the case in 
treating of the subject in question. To help make good our 
assertion, we will quote a sentence from a late pious writer. 
Discoursing on a kindred theme, he says : " Think of others 
as reason and religion require, and treat them as it is your 



INTEODUCTION. XVll 

duty to do, and you will not be for from a well-polished be- 
havior."^ Now it must be plain to any ordinary mind which 
has at all considered the diflBculty of successful moral instruc- 
tion, that it would take not a few comprehensive precepts like 
the above, and those frequently repeated, to move any one 
to the practice of good-breeding. All such generalities leave 
on most minds the impression that it cannot be an important 
subject concerning which so little is said, that if this be all 
that is to be taught, they have nothing to leara, and that if 
they do but bear in mind the 2^''iiiciple, they need not concern 
themselves about its ap2^lications. Each one feels himself at 
hberty to put his own construction on it, and consequently no 
two persons will reduce it to the same practical results, while 
the most part will wrest it from its right meaning or neglect 
it altogether. The attempt to enforce any other duty accord- 
ing to this method leads to similar results, as Cowper has 
illustrated in sportive measm-e. 

^'Renounce tlie world — the preacher cries. 
' We do' — a multitude replies, 
While one as innocent regards 
A snug and friendly game at cards ; 
And one, whatever you may say, 
Can see no evil in a play ; 
Some love a concert or a race ; 
And others shooting and the chase. 
Reviled and loved, renounced and foUow'd, 
Thus bit by bit the world is swallow'd." 

By none does the maxim, ahundans cautela nocet nemmi^ 

3 Such generalities remind one of the father who said to his sou : 
" I entreat you, John, once for all, be a fine gentleman/' 
* Superfluous caution does no harm. 



XVlll INTRODUCTION. 

deserve to be more constantly borne in mind than by writers 
on manners. 

Some object to precise rules, that they impose on us a life- 
less uniformity and a mechanical constraint. And this ob- 
jection has some weight when brought against that school 
of manners which makes the perfection of demeanor to consist 
in mere extrinsic proprieties ; but it does not lie against the 
methods here adopted ; to wit, that of first inculcating the 
Gospel virtues, from which the best amenities of deportment 
proceed, and then showing in what those amenities consist. 
It is a fact that seems to have hitherto escaped the im- 
pugners of such discussion of the subject, that there are as 
many ways of being courteous as there are of being rude, 
even with respect to the same actions, and that there are 
really no greater checks upon our freedom in the one case 
than in the other. The author does not pretend that those who 
do not, in some particulars, conform to the following rules of 
propriety, cannot, by their deviations from them, be equally 
well-bred with those who exactly observe them all. In some 
cases he has selected observances that are sanctioned by the 
best examples : in others he has given hints, the spirit of 
which is more to be regarded than their letter, and with a 
view to show in ivhat direction propriety lies, and to fix the 
boundary of rudeness, leaving each one to pick his own path, 
so he does not wander from the main course and does not 
overstep the conventional line. 

Others object to all precepts on this subject, on the ground 
that "instinct," or "intuition," or "the sense of propriety" 
will teach them all they need to know of manners. But they 
might just as reasonably conclude that a heathen who had 



INTRODUCTION. XTX 

never heard of Christianity could be sufficiently instructed in 
its doctrines and duties by the light of reason and conscience, 
as that they could obtain right notions of courtesy, simply by 
consulting their own uninformed minds. These very persons, 
do not disapprove instruction on other subjects, and would 
deride as absurd the pretensions of any one who should boast 
that he could readily master any art without availing himself 
of the experience of his predecessors. They would say that 
he showed either a conceited notion of his own ])owers, or 
ignorance of the art to be acquired. 

Equally unfounded is the opinion that nothing but a knowl- 
edge of the world is necessary to form our manners. It may, 
to be sure, operate in many ways to our improvement in tact 
and address ; but it can never estabhsh our minds in those 
principles with which we ought to commence the world, and 
without whose continual guidance our observations in society 
will be of little avail to us. We have gained an important 
point when we have formed a habit of thinking on this subject. 
By patient and well-directed thought we are brought to com- 
prehend those great principles which are the basis of all cor- 
rect conduct, and to use them as tests of the countless particu- 
lars w^hich make up the sum-total of one's manners. The 
Apostle Paul endeavors to lead us to the practice of the minor 
morals, by exhortmg us to meditate on these things : " Breth- 
ren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, 
whatsoever things are- just, whatsoever things are pure, what- 
soever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, 
if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these 
things." In these matters, one's own experience is less valua- 
ble to him than is commonly supposed. He seldom learns a 



XX INTEODUCTION. 

lesson of experience till it is too late to reduce it to practice. 
He cannot turn to his own account the wisdom he gains from 
many occurrences and emergencies, because just such do not 
happen to one more than once in a lifetime. Accordingly, we 
find a Casa, a Chesterfield, and a Knigge, towards the close 
of life, lamenting the errors into which thoughtlessness had 
betrayed them, and while by the help of their own experience 
they were eloquently warning others, they reflected that it was 
too late to make their dear-bought wisdom advantageous to 
themselves. It is our purpose to excite the mind of the reader 
to that reflection, circumspection, and forecast which will fore- 
stall the chidings of experience, and guide him in circumstances 
where experience is too tardy in coming to his aid. 

There is a notion afloat in the world, that courtesy is a vir- 
tue that becomes only men of title, office, wealth or learning, 
and that they alone have the power and the inducement to 
implant and foster it in the heart. This is utterly erroneous. 
Multitudes of examples might be cited to show that it can 
thrive amid poverty, ignorance, and obscurity. This thought 
is well put by Dr. James Fordyce. In a passing remark made 
while writing on another subject, he says : " I used the phrase 
Christian Breeding : that kind of courtesy which I point out 
being expressly enjoined by one of the writers of the New Tes- 
tament. Perhaps you think of St. Paul, that accomplished 
apostle, who himself became all things to all men, that he 
might gain some. Such a precept might have been readily 
suggested by his early education at a seat of learning, and 
would have come very naturally from the hand that drew so 
divine a picture of charity, the parent of meekness. But the 
fact is, that it fell from the pen of an illiterate man, bred to 



INTRODUCTION. XXI 

the roughest of all employments. It was St. Peter the in- 
spired fisherman that said, ' Be courteous' — to intimate that the 
religion which he had learned from the meek and lowly Jesus, 
was able to soften the keenest and cool the hottest temper, 
and even give gentleness to one trained amongst winds and 
waves." 

Some excellent Christians are prompt to execute large 
schemes of benevolence, but slow to perform the little offices 
of kindness. Others are more careful to avoid the dissimu- 
lation of the polite than the offensiveness of the rude. Others 
again are attentive to the inward man while they neglect the 
outward, and are more intent on detecting hateful thoughts 
than practising amiable virtues. It is not to be denied that 
these are the delinquencies of some who are eminent in god- 
liness : they are dehnquencies neverthele:- . We should con- 
sider that those improprieties of conduct which render us 
offensive to one another are oftentimes displeasing to God. 
Robert Hall, in conversation with a friend, once remarked : 

" Again, sir, there is Mr. how uncouth he is, sir ! why, 

sir, that beha\ior would not do in the world ; he cannot be 
aware how offensive it is, or certainly as a religious man he 
would endeavor to correct it. Many persons forget, sir, that 
these are Christian precepts : 'Be courteous, tender, and 
kind-hearted.' " 

It is moiiifying to admit that many Christians do not ha- 
bitually practise that courtesy which their sacred books so 
clearly teach. They have in general given less attention to 
the formation of pleasing manners than the children of this 
world. Hence they have frequently been equalled in exterior 
deportment by those who knew uo other law of conduct than 



XXll INTRODUCTION. 

the emjDty mimicry of the Christian graces. Many, it is to 
be feared, have turned away with disgust from the beautiful 
simphcity of Christianity when they have witnessed the offen- 
sive singularity of some of her conspicuous votaries. Alonzo 
Cano, the Spanish sculptor, is said to have refused the offices 
of a priest when dying, because, as he said, the crucifix he 
brought with him was so bunglingly executed. Will it be 
said that the generality of unbelievers are not so fastidious ? 
It is true that as a class they have not a more delicate sense 
of propriety than believers. Yet many, no doubt, have pre- 
ferred being elegantly lost to being vulgarly saved. 

The Christian is commanded to " adorn the doctrine of Christ 
his Saviour in all things." The mysterious truths he believes, 
and the severe morality l.o obser^•es, require the most engaging 
demeanor to illuminate tlie one and to soften the other. Cour- 
tesy is an ornament of such singular comeliness that all the 
world unites in admiring it, and sets the highest value 
upon it, regarding it as the chief of the virtues and the 
hider of many faults. Nay, many deem worthy of a place 
among the glorified, persons who, in their lifetime, gave 
no better evidence of a gracious renewal than a sweet and 
gentle deportment. Dangerous as such a delusion must ever 
be, it shows that the milder virtues are appreciated by those 
who do not cultivate them. The hearts of the worldly are 
not aflPected by heroic acts of self-denial, but they are capti- 
vated by the refined attentions of Christian kindness ; they 
know not how to estimate great sacrifices to the cause of 
God, but they receive the little services of courtesy as the 
free-will offerings of Christian love, and as pledges that she 



INTR0DUCTI02^^ 



will place still costlier oblations on the altar of a common 
humanity. They are easily convinced that those who show 
a delicate regard for their temporal quiet sincerely desire 
their eternal peace. 



PART I. 

Of the virtues severally considered in the first part, most originate 
in evangelical charity, and all are its inseparable attendants. They 
are viewed, not in their general relations, but mainly as elements of 
courtesy. 



CHAPTEE I. 



HUMILITY. 



" Chabitt," says Paul, '' vaunteth not itself, is not 
puffed up." So far otherwise, it shrinks into noth- 
ingness in view of the glory of Grod and the bor- 
rowed glory of man, and its self-partiality is lost in 
affection for others. Humility, therefore, is but 
charity bowing to do homage and stooping to deeds 
of kindness. As a beneficent grace, its mission is to 
make and preserve peace. It puts an end to the an- 
imosities and contentions which pride incites, and 
even disarms and takes captive pride itself. Caus- 
ing mutual deference, subjection, and respect, it 
provides a strong bond of fellowship and union 
among mankind. It endeavors to sink beneath the 
notice of the world, and yet its very self-abasement 
excites the wonder and wins the jDraise of all. Pride, 
inflated with a self-flattery equal to its contempt of 
others, provokes us to overlook any excellence it 
may rightfully claim, and to search after its defects ; 
humility, on the contrary, is annihilated by the su- 
periority of others, and is so ashamed of its own vir- 
tues as to conceal them, or, at most, to allow only 
slight glimpses of them. This makes us desire a full 
view, and we are stimulated to the quest of discove- 



28 HUMILITY. 

ries by the difficulty of making them. What it con- 
trives to obscm-e, charms us more than what it re- 
veals, and what is entirely denied to sight is more 
than supplied by the creations of the imagination. 

By humility, the apostle appears to have under- 
stood the disposition which leads us not to think 
more highly of ourselves than we ought to think. 
He does not mean, as some suppose, that we should 
have a complete knowledge of all our virtues, and 
regulate our self-estimation accordingly ; neither, as 
others suppose, that we should be blind to all our 
moral excellences, and cherish a contempt of our- 
selves. He means that we should have such lowly 
notions of our character and life, as a true conception 
of the perfectness of God and our unlikeness to Him 
could lead us to form. If Christians obey the divine 
requirement, and esteem others better than them- 
selves — seeing in themselves defects of motive and 
zeal which they cannot possibly read in the hearts 
of others, they must in general undervalue their own 
character ; were they to set what the world would 
deem an accurate estimate on their virtues, the most 
eminent of them would be in danger of spiritual 
pride. Whereas their piety will, in general, be 
found proportional to their ignorance of their excel- 
lence and their knowledge of their faults. 

There are multitudes who account a Christian 
spirit as very foreign from dignity and greatness of 
spirit. Such persons do well to abhor all baseness, 
but they would do better first to learn what baseness 
is. Thinking that whatever is mortifying to pride is 
meanness, they fancy themselves to be performing 
noble deeds, while a person who adopts the Gospel 



HUMILITY. 29 

as his measure of moral magnitudes, thinks those 
deeds fall far short of magnanimity. It should be 
our purpose to perform, not great actions, but just, 
kind, meek, and self-denjing actions. ISTor is there 
any true nobleness apart from these. 

It is a mark of humility to associate with our infe- 
riors, if we place ourselves on an equal footing with 
them. But if we prefer their society to that of our 
equals or superiors, because they show us more def- 
erence than we receive elsewhere, or with a view to 
be foremost among them, pride is manifestly the 
main-spring of our conduct. It was in a like spirit 
that Caesar said he had rather be the first man in a 
rural village, than the second man in Rome. 

Humility does not lead us to underrate our moral 
energies as assisted by divine grace. It makes us 
despise the attainments we have made, when we 
compare them with those we ought to have made. 
He who is proudly content with his present character 
forgets the dignity of his nature, and of his destiny. 
We should be humble, not so much in view of what 
we have, as in view of what we might have. 

Sincere humility before man can only spring from 
humility before God. The moment we lose sight of 
the disparity between Infinite Perfection and our 
own moral character, we are in danger of exalting 
ourselves in the sight of our fellow-men. We may 
feel the deepest veneration for our neighbor, and 
yet, being misled by that same veneration, we may 
erect him into a false standard. While in our 
thoughts we are careful to keep ourselves at a 
due distance from him, we have raised him on too 
high an eminence, and have consequently elevated 



30 HUMILITY. 

ourselves in an equal degree. So that practically we 
act as if we were his equal, if not his superior, though, 
at the same time, we may feel om-selves to be very 
inferior to what we imagine him to be. Or if we 
should not imagine him to be farther from us than he 
really is, so as to lead us to draw disrespectfully near 
to him, still a magnified view of him may lead us to 
a misi^laced and ridiculous homage. We may be 
somewhat like a man that, by mistaking the height 
of a door, stoops needlessly low in passing through it. 
The want of humility in the sight of God fosters 
not only arrogance towards men, but also what is 
scarcely less offensive in society, presumption as to 
things.^ For if one does not over-estimate himself, 
in comparison of others, yet if he entertains too high 
an opinion of his own faculties, and shows this sort 

1 " There is an important distinction to be observed between two 
diflferent offices of humility, or, as some would express it, two different 
kinds of humility, which are not always found in the same person. 
The one consists in forming a modest estimate of one's own individual 
powers and worth, compared with that of the rest of mankind ; the 
other, in not overrating the human faculties — in estimating as humbly 
as we ought, the powers and capacities of man in general. Now there 
are many who observe one of these rules, but violate the other : 
partly perhaps from not attending to the difference between them. 
A man may be entirely free from personal arrogance— from any undue 
pretensions to superiority over others — and may, so far, be justly re- 
garded as a modest and humble-minded man ; — and yet may err most 
grievously in exercising his faculties on subjects which lie out of their 
reach ; reasoning and dogmatizing on things beyond reason, and pre- 
sumptuously prying into the mysteries of the Most High. Such a 
man would not be at all checked in this fault by any admonitions 
against despising others, and overrating himself in comparison of them. 
On the other hand, a man may be personally arrogant and yet form 
a just and modest estimate of the human powers. This appears to 
have been the case with Warburton.'- — Archbishop Whately's Bampton 
Lectures, london, 1833. — Appendix p. 542. 



HUMILITY. 31 

of pride in his talk, lie will be iiiglily unpleasing to 
listeners. "Who is more disagreeable than he who 
boasts that he has unsealed some of the greatest mys- 
teries of our religion, or confidently claims the ability 
to explain what all learned men confess themselves in- 
competent to clear up — ^to comprehend doctrines 
which most of the pious are content to believe with- 
out presuming entirely to understand. To this class 
belong those who have fixed themselves upon a ped- 
estal of unsinning perfection. However modest and 
deferential in general demeanor these persons may 
be, their pretensions must be more or less obnoxious 
to those who do not believe spotless holiness to be 
attainable by mortals, or if attainable, deny that those 
who have attained it, will know it, much less dis- 
posed to confess it. Akin to these are they who rest 
in their creed with blind confidence, maintain that 
they are infallible, and their belief is the truth with- 
out any possible admixture of error, and refuse to 
submit it to a candid examination. 

JSTor should we suppose we are humbling ourselves 
when we confess the depravity of mankind in gene- 
ral. It is quite possible for us to admit all this, and 
at the same time inly bless om'selves that we are not 
worse than the generality of the species, or that we 
have reached as high a degree of moral excellence 
as any one in like circumstances is able to attain. 

l^ow all these various shades of arrogance and pre- 
sumption are engendered by our making one another 
the standard of comparison. How searching the 
truth which the apostle Paul declares concerning 
some who measure themselves by themselves : and he 
adds, that he dare not make himself of the number 



32 HUMILITY. 

of such, but will only boast according to the measure 
which God has distributed to all. 

Most of those who pride themselves in doing none 
but noble actions, are unwilling to do anything how 
good soever in tendency, that requires a sacrifice of 
their pride. Those who have been merely taught to 
despise a mean act, are apt to set down submission, 
self-denial, forgiveness, and unrequited kindness in 
the catalogue of mean actions. 

Men of the world are satisfied with that sort of 
manners which consists in the observance of the mere 
exterior forms of humility.^ They know that without 
putting on, at least, the apj^earance of it, they would 
not be able to endure each other's behavior, and so 
all agreeable intercourse would cease. But for it, 
the vanity of each would inflame that of the other, 
haughtiness would provoke haughtiness, and envy 
irritate envy, until their assemblies, instead of afford- 
ing pleasure, would excite disgust and cause deadly 
encounters. But by hiding their pride under a cloak 
of humility, and their aversion under an exterior of 
respect, enemies meet as friends, and the most diverse 
characters as kindred S23irits. If the shadow of hu- 
mility is of such sovereign use in neutralizing the 
opposing elements of society, even making the con- 
tact of mutual adversaries tolerable to each other, 
may we not hope that when its substance shall be 
more widely distributed among men, it will serve 
to unite their hearts in holy brotherhood, and to make 

' " The general idea of showing respect, in all nations, is by mak- 
ing yourself less ; but the manner, whether by bowing the body, 
kneeling, prostration, pulling off the upper part of your dress, or tak- 
ing away the lower, is a matter of custom."— Sir Joshua ReyTwlds. 



HUMILITY. 33 

their intercourse tlie source of the pui'est enjoy- 
ment. 

It is among those classes of society where wealth, 
power, and rank assist the growth of pride, that ex- 
ternal humility is in the greatest request. Taking 
for granted that men esteem themselves to be some- 
what higher than the rank they occupy, each aims to 
treat others according to their own standard of per- 
sonal merit, at the same time seeking to convince 
them by his own condescension that he does not re- 
gard himself as their superior. Schemes of ambition, 
rival interests, the claims of jDrecedency, and a high 
sense of dignity, require the great to observe in their 
intercourse with one another, a respectful and concil- 
iatory etiquette. 

Since the prevailing superficial manners cannot in 
the present state of society reform themselves, and 
as worldly people who have adopted these cannot be 
expected to alter them for the better, it is the pecu- 
liar duty of Christians to exercise that intrinsic hu- 
mility which will render these forms the true outward 
expressions of inward feelings. AVere this humility 
more generally cultivated by Christians, what im- 
provement in manners might be anticipated even in 
what are now esteemed the most refined circles. How 
much less of dissimulation and afifectation would be 
used to hide the hatefulness of pride. How much 
less of hypocrisy in acts of politeness with which 
many are not ashamed to confess their hearts have 
nothing to do, but which they perform as matters of 
course and regard as nothing more than customary 
but unmeaning forms. 

"Without seeming to be hunible the Christian can- 



84 HUMILITY. 

not please ; witliout being reallj so lie cannot be 
sincere. He ought therefore to omit a condescension 
when sincerity requires it, but not when mere pride 
or hatred suggests the omission. While it is safer to 
incur the displeasure of a friend than the rebukes of 
conscience, still an enlightened moral sense will 
always avoid the expression of every malignant feel- 
ing. It is commendable to perform a courteous action 
while the heart is inflamed with anger, although it is 
more commendable not to be angry at all. It is 
laudable to do what is disagreeable to ourselves rather 
than what is ofl:ensive to others. To do a kind act to 
which we are disinclined with a view to reconcile an 
enemy or to overcome our jDride, is almost a virtue. 
The man that humbles himself before his enemy 
while he is yet smarting under wrong and abuse, 
shows a spirit superior to the flesh, a generosity to 
which his lower passions are obedient, a heart that 
does not hate an excellent character for a single blem- 
ish found upon it, and a wisdom which prefers peace 
to his own rights. By a single act of humility he 
shows that his better judgment disapproves the vari- 
ance, and that he is willing even at the costly sacri- 
fice of his pride to make the first advance towards a 
reconciliation. He is not ashamed to own himself 
in the wrong, nor slow to make every amends to the 
injured party. Thus, by a meek and conciliating 
bearing, he drives hatred from the heart of his ad- 
versary, and rears there an altar whereon a friend- 
ly hand will delight to offer incense to his Lamblike 
virtues. 

Beneath the peculiar manners of the different 
classes in society, pride is sure to find a lurking- 



HUMILITY. 35 

place. One class plumes itself upon its politeness, 
another on its vnlgarity ; some are proud to be tlie 
monthly roses of fashion, changing with the seasons ; 
others boast that they are the evergreens of gen- 
tility, living superior to all vicissitudes. Some love 
to think that their birth, their wealth, their educa- 
tion, or their travels, give them a superior claim to 
good breeding. Others imagine they have attained 
that perfection of manner which consists in showing 
all that is precise and modal ; others again fancy 
they have struck upon the road to fashion's throne, 
when they have merely learned to detect and pub- 
lish the improprieties of others. K'umbers, in pri- 
vate stations, think humility adorns the character of 
the great, and casts a veil of modesty over brilliant 
achievements, but that the obscurity of their sphere 
excuses them from exhibiting a lowliness of spirit. 
Would not, say they, the observance of the submis- 
sive virtues render us abject ; would not a comj)liance 
with the minor dictates of humility in our uncom^tly 
intercourse with one another, and with om* superiors, 
be regarded a mark of the narrowness of om- minds, 
and serve but to call forth the insults of those who 
should discover how meekly we could endure them ? 
Is not a bluff and independent bearing the only 
shield whereby the democracy can protect itself 
against the aristocracy ? But let such consider that 
there is in humility itself a self-protecting dignity, 
that pride is always despised and hated, while an 
humble deportment is sure to inculcate the same in 
others. The only remedy for the vanity of the fash- 
ionable, the daintiness of the genteel, the pride of 
the well-bred, the insolence of some classes, and 



SQ HUMILITY. 

the rudeness of others, in a word, for most of the 
discourtesies committed in society, is an obedience to 
the divine command, " Let nothing J)e done through 
strife or vain-glorj ; but in lowliness of mind let 
each esteem others better than himself." 

What animosities and quarrels have sprung out of 
a violation of this precept. A single wanton breach 
of etiquette has arrayed, in fierce hostility, men once 
peaceful and ha23py in each other's friendship. Mor- 
tals have never yet been able to discover an anti- 
dote for wounded pride. It was nothing that 
Hainan reflected on the glory of his riches and the 
multitude of his children ; it was nothing that he 
was advanced above all the princes of the realm, 
and had the honor of being the only guest at the 
royal table, that he received the reverences of the 
multitude ; all this was nothing, while he saw among 
the retinue of the king, Mordecai refusing to stand 
up and do him homage. Mordecai the Jew sat at 
the king's gate. Had he stood up, and bowed, 
Haman's glory would have been complete : he omit- 
ted a ceremony, and Haman was undone. 

True humility dwells only in the bosom of those 
who have repented of their disobedience to God, and 
of their rejection of his son the Saviour. Reader, 
be not startled at this declaration. You may have 
gentility ; you may have modesty ; but humility, and 
that deportment which springs honestly from it, you 
cannot claim unless your soul has bowed low with 
godly sorrow. 'No imagined amiableness of nature 
can be an acceptable substitute for it. Evangelical 
contrition is the best mark of its presence in the 
heart, and this can only be exercised by prostrating 



HUMILITY. 87 

the soiil at the foot of the atoning cross, and by a 
simjDle and sole trust in the sacrifice which hangs 
thereon. " But," jou reply, " this is too low for my 
pride to stoop." Too low ! How low has not your 
pride already stooped to gain its coveted objects ? 
To what degradation has it not submitted, in order 
to support itself? Pride scorns no meanness. Luci- 
fer was willing to crawl in the dust to support his 
dignity. Imitate him no more ; neither believe him 
though he should whisper in your ear the promise, 
"thou shalt be as a god." Hearken rather to the 
voice of the Divine Teacher who stands and calls : 
" Come unto me, for I am meek and lowly in heart." 
He who would successfully cultivate humility, 
should frequently review his bad qualities, and com- 
pare them with the opposite perfections of the Lord 
Jesus Christ. 'No person can explore the obscure 
recesses of his heart, without loathing, if not les- 
sening, his j)ride. He who dwells with pleasure on 
his virtues is growing vicious, but he who detects 
and eradicates his vices, is making advances toward 
true virtue. The former, with his pencil, is daubing 
the odious images of his faults on the unhewn marble 
of his character : the latter, with his chisel, cuts 
away the block, shaves off every superfluous action, 
brings down every high thought, and, with so much 
skill and care, polishes his character into the like- 
ness of the divine form of humility. 



CHAPTER II. 

GRAVITY. 

By gravity is here meant that moral virtue which 
the apostle Paul enjoins upon Christians. It is a 
feeling composed of seriousness and dignity ; as se- 
riousness, it is opposed to levity and mirth ; as dig- 
nity, it is superior to servility and meanness. As 
applied to Christian manners, gravity means that 
calmness and elevation of demeanor which springs 
from a regenerated mind, an enlightened senie of 
duty, and a practical faith. It is consistent with 
high mental endowments, when they are joined with 
corresponding virtues, but it is not a quality of an 
unrenewed mind, however gifted in other respects. 
It is attainable by Christians of ordinary parts, and 
this virtue is sometimes exhibited by such in great 
beauty. 

Gravity avoids all transports of the passions. It 
does not betray ill humor and fretfulness ; it does 
not indulge deep melancholy and unrestrained grief, 
in loud talking and scolding, in frequent exclama- 
tions of surprise and fits of laughter. Its expressions 
of affection are free from silliness and insipidity, as 
those of disapprobation are void of bluntness and 
harshness. In religious worship, particularly in pub- 



GRAVITY. 89 

lie worship, it dislikes phrenzj and uproar. It ren- 
ders to Jehovah the service of the understanding as 
well as the heart, and the tribute of reason as well 
as the imagination. 

The feeling of gravity is indicated by the general 
composure of the mind. Every passion is subdued 
and governed. This habit of the mind shows itself 
in the tranquillity of the countenance, and a com- 
plete mastery over the organs of feeling. While 
every Christian ought to avoid habits of insensibil- 
ity, he should obtain the entire command of his coun- 
tenance. He who has not gained some power over 
his features, is not the peaceable possessor of his own 
thoughts. Much against his will and against his in- 
terest, he seems by his levity to aj)plaud every mer- 
ry-andrew, and to reward the services of every jester 
and teaser. He laughs so heartily at a ludicrous or 
unseemly accident, that though he is very sorry it 
happened, others are led to conclude that he rejoices 
at it. And if he makes an apology to the unfortu- 
nate person, and tells him how deeply he regrets 
what has happened, his suppressed smile is inter- 
preted as proof that his regrets are insincere. 

There is a kind of sobriety which is no part of 
gravity, although it is frequently called by that 
name. It is more nearly related to moroseness, and 
is seldom seen in alliance with eminent virtues. 
While Addison is hitting oif a certain licentious 
character, he says, " And yet he is one of the gravest 
men in the world," and Juvenal, satirizing the vices 
of Rome, asks :^ " Is not every street thronged with 

3 , . . Quis enim non vicus abundat 
Tristibus obscenis '? Sat. 2. 



40 GKAVITY. 

grave libertines ?" Any person of moderate observa- 
tion, must have met with people of this description. 
Still no one should refer a person to this class has- 
tily, for it calls for no little knowledge of the world 
to avoid mistaking them for those who are truly 
grave. Though no test is infallible for distinguish- 
ing a sterling virtue from a counterfeit, it may be 
said, in general, that this sobriety wants the un- 
studied cheerfulness and dignity which more or less 
enter into the composition of the genuine virtue. 

Gravity is not, as some seem to suppose, related to 
singularity. That strangeness of deportment which 
some display while engaged in the solemnities of re- 
ligion, is quite foreign to gravity and unfriendly to 
its exercise. They cannot address the divine Maj- 
esty without making their requests in such a whimsi- 
cal manner as makes every one smile. They talk on 
secular topics, and even on laughable ones, without 
betraying any humor, but for them to discourse 
about religion, is to change the solemn to the ludi- 
crous, accompanying their remarks, perhaj)s, with 
such a hard countenance, or a sorry grimace, as give 
them an air of seriousness indeed, but it is the seri- 
ousness of buffoonery, not that of gravity. 

Gravity is far removed from parsimony and little- 
ness in dealings. Economy is a duty which becomes 
the character of every class of Christians : but what 
is economy in one man, would be niggardness in an- 
other. A poor man may urge his claim for a dime 
due him, without a violation of gravity. Yet should 
a man of wealth make his demands for so small a 
sum with equal vehemence, he would render himself 
contemptible. A prince would be despised for a per- 



GRAVITY. 41 

sonal quarrel about a fortune with an inferior: a 
starving beggar would not violate gravity, were lie 
to contest his morsel with a dog. The rich are too 
much accustomed to regard the economy of the poor 
as meanness, and the poor who have risen to wealth, 
too commonly fail to consider that their former econ- 
omy is present parsimony. 

ISTor is gravity allied with frivolousness and ex- 
treme curiosity. He who gives much attention to 
small matters, wholly absorbed in trifling employ- 
ments, and talking much about nothing, may be se- 
rious, but he is not grave. He will, in general, be 
looked upon as having some mental imbecility. The 
eyes of some persons are microscopes, serving for the 
discovery and inspection of all small and hidden 
things. They search for and examine objects which 
are beneath the attention of any other rational being. 
They also indulge cravings after petty things ; all 
their ideas are childish, and they pass all their days 
in a nutshell. 

Neither does this virtue approve, though it sel- 
dom censures, foj)peries and fashionable monstrosi- 
ties ; such as long locks, or bushy whiskers, or un- 
dressed mustaches, or garments too scant in some 
parts, and too full in others, or a profusion of jewelry. 

A grave man behaves towards others as besorts his 
character and ofiice, while he demands nothing more 
from others than they owe to the same. As he is not 
haughty, he does not ask others to cringe ; as he is 
not mean, he easily avoids being despised. He never 
assumes airs with a view to conceal his insignificance. 
The dignity of his soul apologizes for the humility of 
his bearing ; the soberness of his mind needs not to 



42 GRAVITY. 

be assisted bj an affected serenity of countenance. 
Few, except the godless, find his behavior too aus- 
tere or sanctimonious. He is not always begging 
leave to differ from others, nor anxious to make oth- 
ers assent to his ojjinion. It is not his wont to give 
advice. When requested, he states the results of his 
own ex2)erience, without upbraiding the novice, or 
rebuking him who does not follow his counsels. He 
receives an insult without being too proud to recog- 
nize it as such ; he is too grave to resent it. He does 
not imagine his dignity can be advanced by a strut, 
nor does he fancy his reputation so secure that he 
can lose nothing by swaggering. Though he should 
know exactly the weight of his character in the scales 
of human opinion, he would not determine its value, 
till he had weighed it in the balances of the sanctu- 
ary. 

It is a prevalent opinion that this virtue becomes 
maturity and old age, but is unsuitable to youth and 
childhood. The Apostle Paul specifically requires 
bishops, deacons, aged men, and wives, to be grave. 
But his not having j)articularly enjoined the duty on 
any other class of j^ersons, is no evidence that he did 
not expect it of them. He may have urged the prac- 
tice of this virtue upon the officers of churches and 
the heads of families, as the most effectual way of 
securing its cultivation among the young, who would 
naturally look up to them as exemplars. Besides, 
since their sacred duties and their experience in life 
would be favorable to the exercise of this virtue, he 
knew that a w^ant of it would be extremely disgrace- 
ful to them. The apostle cannot be understood to 
excuse any believer, however young, from practising 



GEAVITY. 43 

a grave deportment. On the contrary, in two of his 
epistles, lie gives a general direction concerning this 
virtue. In the one* advising Timothy to exhort the 
E]3hesian disciples to lead a life of gravity ; in the 
other^ urging his Philippian brethren to " think on 
whatsoever things are grave." In these passages he 
addresses Christians, without distinction of age, sex, 
or station. By inculcating this virtue on the young, 
St. Paul does not aim to extinguish their peculiar 
liveliness, but to temper it ; not to invest them with 
an affected venerableness, but to give them an ani- 
mated dignity — a dignity no less comely in youth 
than in old age. 

Since writing the above paragraph, a beautiful 
confirmation in verse of the same sentiment has been 
brought to mind. My not recollecting, at the time, 
that anything had been said or sung on this subject, 
makes it the more curious to observe how a great 
poet, contemplating the works of creation, has ar- 
rived at the same conclusion that a small proser had 
reached by studying the records of revelation. We 
allude to the last two stanzas of Southey's " Holly 
Tree," which we beg leave here to quote : 

*' And as, when all the summer trees are seen 

So bright and green, 
The holly leaves a sober hue display 

Less bright than they ; 
But when the bare and wintry woods we see, 
What then so cheerful as the Holly Tree ! 

* 1 Tim. ii : 2. s Philip, iv. : 8. 

The Greek words ae/nvoTi^Ti and (jejuvd, in our version translated 
" honesty" and " honest/' signify grave and gravity. The word honesty 
is no longer used as synonymous with the Latin konestas, as it was in the 
reign of King James. 



44 GHAVITY. 

So serious should my youth appear among 

The thoughtless throng ; 
So would I seem amid the young and gay, 

More grave than they, 
That in my age as cheerful I might be, 
As the green winter of the Holly Tree." 

Before the face of gravity all vice and irreligion is 
awe-struck and abashed. Beneath its calm and so- 
ber eye, every heart swollen by passion, or delirious 
w4th pleasure, quails. It is said that on one occa- 
sion, when the Roman populace were celebrating a 
lewd and impious festival in honor of Flora, they 
were ashamed to proceed while Cato, a man re- 
nowned for virtue among them, was present in the 
theatre. Likewise the grave Christian, by the se- 
rious elevation of his demeanor, is a silent rebuke of 
all iniquity. The wanton and the giddy retire from 
his presence as from the searching glance of a visi- 
ble deity. The gravity of his soul speaking in all his 
actions reproves the impertinent and the trifling. 
The corrupt do not seek to taint his heart : for they 
know that it is the temple of the Divine Spirit 
guarded by armed cherubim, which ever keep at a 
distance the sacrilegious and the profane. 

i 



CKAPTER lU. 

CHEER FULNESS. 

That moderate and habitual joy whicli is so pecu- 
liar to Christians, is not so much an independent 
grace, as it is the result of the exercise of all the 
graces. The satisfactions of holy submission and 
tnist, the pleasures of eternal hope, the gratification 
of benevolence, the joys of gratitude, and the delights 
of fatherly and brotherly love, all seem to swell the 
perennial stream of cheerfulness in the soul. There 
is no holy afi'ection that either is not mingled with 
or does not subside in cheerfulness. Even disappoint- 
ment, j)erplexity, and grief, those fatal disturbers of 
unbelieving minds, bring peace to the trusting soul 
and prepare it for unusual joy. 

But if there be one gracious feeling which contrib- 
utes to cheerfulness more than any other, it is the 
exercise of that charity which "hopeth all things." 
This hope is a reasonable expectation that the Holy 
Ghost will either regenerate, or continue to sanctify 
our hearts and those of others, whose sins give us dis- 
quiet and pain. It is such a hope that keeps us from 
those painful forebodings with respect to the ever- 
lasting condition of the wicked, which we would 
otherwise too much indulge. The expectation that 



46 CHEERFULNESS. 

the faults of our brethren, which now mar the beauty 
of Zion and disturb our devotions, will at length van- 
ish before the power of subduing grace, enables us to 
continue hapjDj in fellowship with them. This it is 
that makes Christians so cheerful in their intercourse 
with the people of the world. For although they 
cannot entirely approve their conduct and examj)le, 
they hope by preserving friendly relations with them, 
to recommend to them the beneficence of their reli- 
gion. To keep at a sullen distance from the children 
of this world ; to treat them as if we thought them 
utterly destitute of conscience and beyond the reach 
of hope ; preserving a scornful silence towards them, 
as though we despised the sinner rather than pitied 
him, is not to reflect the amiability, condescension, 
and compassion of our adorable Master — is not to set 
oft' religion with those attractions which belong to it. 
It is the smile of cheerfulness which saves the heaven- 
ly from being hateful ; and but for it the descent of 
holy angels must have been terrible to the guilty 
mortals of olden time. 

A cheerful de^Dortment casts a gladdening radiance 
over the piety of some men, and magnifies their ob- 
scure duties into brilliant exploits. It disarms the 
petty vexations, and sports with the awkward acci- 
dents of life. But for it even courtesy itself would 
be cold and repulsive, and the disclosures of piety in 
promiscuous assemblies would be marked as hypoc- 
risy and cant. To discharge each duty of social life 
with the solemnity of one engaged in divine worship ; 
to perform every delicate office of courtesy with a 
rueful countenance, or to ask for daily bread with as 
much fervor as one would pray for the conversion of 



CHEERFULNESS. 47 

a soul, is to degrade Christianity into Quixotism, and 
to render it ridiculous to every worldly mind. But 
shaded with the golden veil of Cheerfulness, the ora- 
cles of conscience may be obeyed without transgress- 
ing the laws of propriety, and the sacred fire be kept 
perpetually blazing upon the altar of the heart with- 
out revealing a needless parade of ceremonials. 

Cheerfulness is not, as some seem to suppose, incon- 
sistent with our being sorry for our sins, downcast in 
view of our defects, and desirous of higher spiritual 
attainments. During the severer exercises of repent- 
ance there is indeed little cheerfulness in the soul. 
Still, godly sorrow, more than any other religious feel- 
ing, prepares the mind for sunny days of joy. He who 
is the frequent subject of such exercises should retire 
from tlie gaze of men as soon as he finds himself un- 
able to suppress his grief, else he may be thought a 
hypocrite, or his religion one of penances and auster- 
ities. It is his duty to avoid all such appearances : 
" be not as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance." In 
his moments of sacred privacy, the Christian may and 
should be the victim of bitter self-accusation. Yet, 
if he employs these moments aright, he will, in gen- 
eral, be prepared to go forth from his closet with a 
calm spirit and return to the business of life with 
a serene and joyful countenance. His intercourse 
with the Xing of kings will imj)art to his conduct a 
gravity, cheerfulness, and gentleness which will more 
than realize in him the union of the three graces of 
mythic story. 

Unchristian men are at a loss to understand how a 
religion, which is associated in their minds with 
painful emotions, can make its votaries serene and 



48 CHEEKFULNESS. 

happy. They fail to perceive that they and the 
Christian respectively view the Gospel from opposite 
points. As the Yenus de Medicis expresses differ- 
ent passions according to the points from which it is 
contemplated, even thus Christianity shows diverse 
aspects to these two classes of beholders, and makes 
different impressions on their minds. The sinner, 
feeling guilt, and dreading the divine wrath, sees in 
the Gospel death, judgment, and jDerdition ; the saint, 
on the contrary, accounting it his salvation, sees in 
it hope, triumph, and everlasting bliss. The sinner 
has cause for viewing the Gospel with the most pain- 
ful feelings, but he is wrong in supposing it to be 
the cause of them. The Gospel, properly so called, 
namely, the glad tidings of salvation through a 
Redeemer, has nothing that, in itself, is calculated 
to make men miserable. It does, indeed, presup- 
pose the existence of sin, death, the judgment, and 
endless misery, but it has not created them; they 
are as old as the fallen world, and the fear and self- 
accusation they excite have always and everywhere 
been the inalienable heritage of sinners. It is true 
some corrupters of Christianity have conspired to 
make it the cheerless system that multitudes have 
been used to regard it. By the help of their cruci- 
fixes they crucify the Son of God afresh ; and they 
carry his lifeless body back again to the se23ulchre 
by embalming the inanimate form of religion in 
gloomy cathedrals and cold convents. Their pen- 
ances, austerities, and purgatories have filled the 
way of life with reeking and sinking graves, and 
hung the portals of heaven with death's-heads and 
cross-bones. But these things are no part of the 



CHEEKFULNESS. 49 

religion of Christ. The Gospel was designed to save 
the believer from unending woe, and from the guilt 
and foreboding which must ever follow sin. He 
who truly believes and heartily obeys such a Gospel, 
ought to be the most cheerful of human beings. 

Yet the unregenerate will ever persist in believing 
that the Gospel can have no better eflect on its fol- 
lowers than to fill their minds with gloomy and 
j)ainful thoughts. They judge of its influence on the 
truly pious, by its effects on themselves. As they 
are annoyed by its threatenings, while they are not, 
like believers, cheered by its promises, they con- 
clude that it awakens in all other minds nothing but 
fears and alarms. Some have also been led to take 
this dark view of the glorious Gospel by the opinion 
of many pious persons, who suppose the highest 
style of Christian to be one whose dej)ortment is 
severe and sober amidst every variety of circum- 
stances — one who rarely or never smiles, and is 
incapable of laughing. How comely soever such 
behavior may appear on some occasions, if it be 
habitual, it is incompatible with a tender sensibility, 
a lively faith, and a bright hope. That is doubtless 
the most mature piety which enables one to bear his 
personal vexations and ills with mild resignation, to 
practise self-denials with unaffected delight, and to 
suffer persecution, for Christ's sake, with meekness 
and joy. 

Cheerfulness should not be mistaken for levity 
and simpering. The former is an excess, the latter 
an affectation of it. Both are different from the 
cheerfulness of the Christian. This is a habitual 
temper of the mind, indicated, not by a smile, a 



50 CHEEKFULNESS. 

grin, or a laugh, but by the whole tenor of the con- 
duct. The cheerful Christian seems always at 
peace with himself, and with all the world. A 
gentle animation is constantly welling up in his 
soul, and diflusing its cheering influence over all his 
faculties. Such is not the levity of the votary of 
jDleasure. Good health and high spirits will oc- 
casionally give him the appearance of cheerfulness ; 
but even the appearance is transient, soon rising to 
levity, or sinking to despondency. For one hour of 
giddiness and merriment, he has whole days of 
languor, restlessness, and disgust. His cheerfulness 
is the excitement of a convivial night, not the temper 
of the mind which abides through all nights and all 
days. 

The gayety which pervades the various ranks of 
fashionable society, arises more from their circum- 
stances than from natural disposition. Surrounded 
by all the conveniences and luxuries which wealth 
can procure, and passing their lives in the company 
of those whose only employment it is to please, 
they meet with little to sour their humors or to 
darken their prospects. But, when these gay crea- 
tures come down from the flowery heights of ease, 
as they are sometimes compelled to do, and endure 
the trials of lowly life, they take leave of their for- 
mer hilarity, and commune only with melancholy, 
and discontent. 

In order to keep the course of cheerfulness, two 
shoals are to be shunned : a troubled spirit on the 
one hand, and a merry one on the other. The former 
prevails when affliction has not the support of a 
vigorous faith ; the latter is indulged by those who 



CHEERFULNESS. 51 

allow cheerfulness to degenerate into mirth. For 
each of these excesses the apostle has appointed a dis- 
tinct and effectual remedy. For the one prayers, 
and for the other j)salmodj. " Is any afflicted ? 
Let him pray. Is any merry ? Let him sing 
psalms." 



CHAPTER lY. 

GENTLENESS. 

Gentleness is that union of tenderness of disposi- 
tion and mildness of manner which invites the timid 
to confidence and the agitated to ease. It is averse 
to all tm'bulence and violence in demeanor, and all 
harshness and abruptness in speech. It avoids the 
indiscriminate compliance of the fickle, the mean 
conformity of the fiatterer, and the feeble delicacy 
of the efi'eminate, as much as it does the impertinence 
of the forward, the neglect of the disdainful, and the 
provocations of the proud. It discloses its charms 
not by the facility with which it abandons its posi- 
tions, but by the mildness with which it defends 
them, not by showing an eagerness to please, or a 
horror of ofiending, but by a calm and easy disclo- 
sure of a subdued soul. 

It is the opinion of some, that a certain bluntness 
and negligence of manners, are suitable to strict up- . 
Tightness, and a necessary ally of active piety. They 
appear to have formed their notions of moral excel- 
lence from contemplating the conduct of the Re- 
formers, and other public champions of the church, 
who, in knocking off the shackles wherewith igno- 
rance and sin had bound mankind, employed no 



GENTLENESS. 53 

mild means and no bland manners. But if we wonld 
do justice to these defamed but illustrious characters, 
we ought to consider that they were not in reality so 
defective in gentleness as they seem to have been ; 
for the fires of j)ei'secution brought to view all the 
dross in their composition, and the malignant scru- 
tiny of the whole world magnified it. That these 
men were really gentle-hearted, might be shown 
by an aj)peal to their conduct in private life, where 
persons do not conceal their bad qualities, but make 
an unafiected display of them. Here we find them 
showing a tender regard for the feelings of others, 
and attentive to all the amenities of society. 

Gentleness is a relative virtue, varying with the 
occasion for its exercise. What is gentleness in 
some circumstances, is not so in others. In the con- 
duct of great affairs, in the defence of important 
rights and principles, in a concern of life and death, 
or in a question of eternal destiny, it is sometimes 
commendable to be so earnest as to forget the ele- 
gances of demeanor, which are more suited to pri- 
vate than public occasions; they adorn the man 
rather than the office and the profession. 

Those who regard the milder graces as weaknesses, 
overlook prime qualities in the character of our Di- 
vine Pattern. Meekness, lowliness, and love, are 
the only virtues to which he publicly laid claim. 
And while he possessed every other perfect grace, 
he conferred on these the singular honor of admit- 
ting to the closest intimacy with himself, the disci- 
ple who was most submissive to their gentle empire. 
The life of our divine Lords was an almost uninter- 
rupted series of gentle actions. With what tender- 



54 GENTLENESS. 

ness did he treat the many invalids who everywhere 
obstructed his path ; how mild the means he used to 
heal them. A kind word often wrought a speedy 
cure. And where the gentleness of others generally 
deserts them, there did his appear in its highest per- 
fection. JS'owhere was this virtue more conspicuous 
than when he was dealing with the crimes and infir- 
mities of our fallen nature. Can anything exceed the 
tenderness of his behavior towards the woman who 
was dragged before him in the blushing and confu- 
sion of conscious guilt. "When his hearers refused to 
believe his messages, he did not upbraid them, but 
said he came not to judge but to save them.' On the 
night of his agony and betrayal in the garden, he 
excused the blamable drowsiness of his disciples by 
the remark that their souls were willing to watch, 
but their bodies were weary. He paused amid the 
mob which sought his life, to heal the ear of his 
midnight enemy. He reprehended with a benignant 
look, the disciple who denied Him, and when he had 
risen, he bid an angel send the tidings of the event 
especially to the grieving Peter. 'Nov did he after- 
wards ever remind him of his defection. " The be- 
loved disciple," who seems ever to have been near 
his person, and who has recorded many minute inci- 
dents of his life, not mentioned by the other Evange- 
lists, has brought out this feature of his character 
with an inspired and an appreciating hand. 

Some of his actions perfoiTaed in the character of 
a divine and prophetic person, were not gentle, be- 
cause gentleness in these instances would have been 
out of place. There are circumstances in which gen- 
• John xii. 47. 



GENTLENESS. 65 

tleness is no virtue : such were those in which He 
assailed the profaners of the temple and stigma- 
tized the Pharisees as hypocrites and vipers. Yet 
gentleness was undoubtedly a principal trait in his 
character. Paul, in vindicating his own reputation 
against the assault of false brethren among the Co- 
rinthian believers, says to them, " I beseech you by 
the meekness and gentleness of Christ." In his 
bearing towards his enemies, he resolved to exhibit 
the gentle and yielding spirit of his lamb-like Lord. 
Had his divine Master been distinguished for sever- 
ity, he could not have safely aj^pealed to such tender 
virtues as he did in this obtestation. He knew that 
fame had everywhere associated his name with all 
that is humble and mild. He invoked not the power 
by which Emmanuel banished disease, rebuked 
demons, and bid the storm be still, but that virtue 
which diffused itself over the numberless unrecorded 
actions of His social life, and shed its balmy fra- 
grance over a miserable world. " The gentleness of 
Christ!" Let these words evei-more be the sacred 
spell to drive away the spirit of discord among 
Christians, and to allay the fierceness of their adver- 
saries. Let the believer who is jostled amid the tu- 
mult of business pronounce it; let him remember it 
in the domestic group ; let him feel its influence in 
the intercourse of society, in the assembly of the 
saints, and in all other transactions of life. 

Paul is himself an admirable example of this virtue. 
The greatest of reformers and suffering more than any 
other from persecution and adversity, yet gentleness 
diffuses itself over every feature of his character. It. 
betrays its influence in his spirit, his conduct, his ser- 



66 GENTLENESS. 

mons, and his epistles. He did not regard it as in- 
consistent with zeal and integrity ; nor did he fear 
that this grace would impair his authority over the 
churches. To the converts of Thessalonica, from whom 
neither he nor the other apostles might expect to derive 
any honor from the possession of a flimsy accomplish- 
ment, he unites with Silvanus and Timotheus in say- 
ing, " We were gentle among you." 

The Christian who is not wont to give gentleness 
that place in his heart and conduct, which as a Chris- 
tian virtue it justly claims, need not be surprised to 
meet with some who will be slow to confess he is a 
worthy disciple of Christ — who will be ready to main- 
tain that their own gentility is more in harmony with 
the Gospel than his godliness, and .affirm that the 
name of gentleman is better than that of Christian, 
that, however much of inward gentleness he may pro- 
fess, it has no charms for them till they behold it em- 
bodied in outward conduct. Every Christian who de- 
sires to deserve the name, should show a gentle de- 
meanor in all his intercourse with others, where duty 
does not demand a severe bearing. Such a style of 
conduct adorns almost every occasion, company, and 
act of duty. How does a mild tone conciliate us, a 
soft answer turn away wrath, a gentle address capti- 
vate us. How does such a behavior disarm the hos- 
tile, discourage the audacious, and restrain even the 
shameless. What accidents has it not avoided ; what 
insults has it not prevented, what animosities not 
healed. Gentleness, attentive to whatever can pro- 
mote our ease and comfort, by a constant succession 
of silent service, takes captive the heart without tak- 
ing away its freedom or requiring its servitude. 



GENTLENESS. 57 

This virtue slimis all offensive bodily actions, such 
as needless shuddering, thrusting, jerking, starting, 
skipping, jumping and running. Although it is some- 
times in haste, it is never in a hurry.'' It prompts 
all that is graceful in bodily movements, and, by 
polishing away all the asperities of demeanor and 
habit, helps to symmetrize the entire Christian char- 
acter. 

But this virtue cannot be acquired solely by dis- 
cij)lining the body or by cultivating a graceful 
exterior. It is mentioned in the sacred Oracles among 
the fruits of the Spirit. It is also declared by the 
ajDOstle James to be one of the characteristics of spir- 
itual wisdom : " The wisdom that is from above is 
gentle." Gentleness is best nurtured by subduing 
the passions, by moderating the desires, by exercising 
circumspection and watchfulness, meekness and kind- 
ness, also by emulating the exemplars of gentleness 
which are found in the Scriptures and in the various 
walks of life, by prayer, and especially by invoking 
the power of the dove-like Spirit. 

7 This is the substance of one of L ord Chesterfield's precepts. It 
was a saying of John Wesley as to himself, and is implied in the Latin 
caution, Festina lente. 



CHAPTER y. 

COURAGE. 

TiiE ability to encounter dangers and difficulties 
with fearlessness and composure, is a quality as ser- 
\^iceable as it is ornamental to every true knight of 
the Cross. By the aid of this, he can, as we might 
say, wrest the sacred summit of Calvary from its 
profaners, bear away the most precious relics immo- 
lested, and lift them wp to the view of all beholders. 
It saves him from the bitter, but unavailing regrets 
of those who for the want of it look back on oj^portu- 
nities unimproved, duties omitted, and good unac- 
complished. It also saves him from the doubts which 
such neglects suggest, the want of courage being just- 
ly considered indicative of the absence of higher 
Christian virtues. 

Courage is not, as some suppose, inimical to cour- 
tesy. Martial courage has often been coupled with 
the most refined and benevolent sentiments ; and. 
numerous instances might be adduced in which moral 
courage is happily united with the same feelings. 
It is confessed there are some Christians who are as 
gentle and afi"able as they are lukewarm and inactive. 
Yet there are many who are lovely in action as well 
as repose. They are equally meek and zealous. 



COURAQE. 69 

Their garments are like those of Immanuel when he 
was transfigured; they are not only "white," but 
"glistering." Their character is not only unsullied 
by faults, but emblazoned with deeds of pious hero- 
ism. 

A share of humble confidence is absolutely requi- 
site to a courteous deportment. Mr. FearMrk has a 
sort of religious bashfulness. He is not at home in 
the house of God. He seems to fancy himself to be 
either the attractor of all eyes, or the butt of com- 
mon ridicule. When he enters the place of worship 
he hurries to his pew, that he may be relieved from 
the pain of being seen, but he is so eager to get into 
it that he diverts the thoughts of many from God to 
himself. When presented at the pew of another, he 
is so anxious to be speedily seated, that he cannot 
allow others to make way for him ; and when a per- 
son is brought to his own pew door, he starts up as if 
frightened at an apparition. In a word, he is so 
restless and disconcerted during the services, that he 
derives from them little profit, and no enjoyment. 
He can sing melodiously when he supposes nobody is 
listening, but in public he never ventures to give the 
key-note, and will seldom sing, even when he has a 
choir to support him. His voice is so rarely heard in 
the prayer-meeting that he seems a stranger there, 
and his consciousness it is so, seems but to increase 
his embarrassment. He utters his prayers either in a 
low tremulous tone, apparently more dreading man 
than worshipping God ; or in a very high tone, as if 
he would overcome his fears by the noise of his 
voice. He is ill at ease even in the domestic circle, 
particularly at the time of the morning and evening 



60 COURAGE. 

sacrifice. He omits the services of the family altar 
for fear of his wife, his children, his servants, or 
strangers. As for conversing with his children or his 
acquaintances on the subject of religion, he dares not 
entertain the thought. 

Mr. Dreadcourt is equally afraid to do his duty to 
God and his duty to man. For he who can break 
the first table of the law can as easily break the sec- 
ond. He fears to discharge all his minor obligations. 
His bashfulness makes him awkward in all his de- 
meanor ; he can hardly salute his intimate friends, 
and he exchanges common civilities much to his 
confusion. Of the many kind and agreeable usages 
of society, he observes very few, and these with ex- 
treme reluctance. He is as seemingly inconsistent in 
secular matters as Mr. Fearkirk is in sacred : for he 
sometimes endeavors to hide his fears under a bold 
and haughty air. His timidity now causes failures, 
and now leads to excesses, so that he is always vi- 
brating between coyness and audacity. 

A Christian of high moral courage is collected and 
at ease in all situations. He as easily maintains his 
self-possession in the presence of a prince as before 
a beggar ; he can pursue a holy object as steadily in 
public as in private. He performs the daily offices 
of religion as though they were the business of life ; 
he as fearlessly engages in the public worship of. 
Jehovah as if he had been disciplined for the service 
among choirs of seraphim. 

The vital j)rinciple of moral courage is Christian 
love. There may be martial bravery, hypocritical 
hardihood, and physical fortitude, without a single 
spark of this celestial element. But when the real 



C U K A G E. 61 

believer lacks the intrepidity needful to the perform- 
ance of his peculiar duties, he may reasonably sus- 
pect that he wants more of this emboldening passion : 
" for perfect love casteth out fear." ^Nevertheless 
should he find his courage equal to every occasion, 
he ought not to conclude it to be the effect of charity 
unless he is unable to attribute it to some other 



CHAPTEK YI. 



MEEKNESS. 



Meekxess is that temper of the Christian which en- 
ables him calmly to suffer injuries with good- will to- 
wards the injurer. It is sometimes thought to be a 
virtue which adorns the victim of extreme oppression, 
abuse, and wrong ; but it equally becomes wounded 
pride, violated j)ropriety, and injured kindness. All 
along his thorny way the Christian meets with many 
lesser trials of this virtue which, though small in them- 
selves, it is more difficult to endure with composure 
than those of greater magnitude. The philosopher 
who is able to receive with much coolness the visita- 
tions of sickness and death, is extremely disturbed 
by injustice and unkindness, impertinence and neg- 
lect. He finds it easier to exercise meekness under 
great and inevitable calamities than under small and 
wanton discom-tesies. 

He who will not notice an insult may be either 
very proud or very wise ; but he who cannot receive 
one with placid composure, smarting under it, or re- 
senting it, has need of meekness. In some cases it 
is proper, after deliberation and delay, to request of 
the offender an explanation : commonly, however, it 
is injudicious to show that we regard ourselves in- 
jured by affronts. We would very seldom resent the 



MEEKNESS. 63 

provocations of some persons, did we reflect that they 
were not actuated by personal hatred, but were the 
results of habitual discourtesy, or ignorance of the 
usages of society. It would save us much disquiet 
in life were we to practise this rule — always to sub- 
mit cheerfully to the unkindness of others, but never 
to give them occasion to endure our own. 

Christian meekness does not take it upon itself to 
avenge personal insults and wrongs. When, how- 
ever, they are willful violations of human rights, our 
duty to om-selves, as well as to the law of the land, 
may require us to expose them to legal j^enalties. 
Even in such cases an individual may not avenge his 
own wrongs. In every instance, except in that of 
dangerous personal violence, he should, during the 
act, serenely submit to abuse and injustice, and after 
the act he ought not to assume the responsibility of 
punishing the offence, either by word or deed. When 
his enemy smites him on one cheek, meekness re- 
quires him to turn the other also, and for personal 
abuse to return acts of kindness. The intercourse of 
the world, and that of Christians, are governed by 
difterent laws. The former is controlled by what are 
termed the laws of honor, for the violation of which 
the offended party may avenge himself by attempt- 
ing to take the life of the offender at the peril of his 
own. The latter is regulated by the laws of courtesy, 
which require the aggressor to make no other amends 
to the aggrieved, than to witness in his conduct an 
example of injured meekness, and to render no other 
satisfaction to those violated laws, than to behold the 
person he has injured nobly obeying the statutes he 
had wantonly violated. 



64 MEEKNESS. 

The meek man does not, however, lie down in sul- 
len inactivity under abuses that may be reformed by 
a little address, or by a pleasant hint. At the same 
time, whoever undertakes to call the attention of 
another to an impropriety he has committed, should 
by his manner avoid committing another and a great- 
er. It is easy to drag into light some slight solecism 
of another, in such a way as to betray a self-conceit 
more offensive than the grossest act of vulgarity. To 
correct a bad habit of another, or to discover to him 
a fault without any unj^leasantness of manner, is one 
of the best attainments of meekness. In one of our 
western cities, a Roman priest lately knocked off the 
hat of a man who refused to make him a bow. And 
who does not every day witness good-humored mis- 
takes corrected by petulant rebukes, and a breach of 
etiquette mended by a breach of the decalogue. 

The countryman and the citizen should be meek in 
their bearing towards each other. The former should 
always be ready to excuse what may seem to him ex- 
travagance and affectation ; the latter what may ap- 
pear to him parsimony and vulgarity, not hastily 
concluding that people lack a refined taste, when 
they only want the means of gratifying it, or when 
they are careful to order their expenditures agree- 
ably to the dictates of conscience, and the calls of 
benevolence, rather than the laws of refinement or 
the freaks of fashion. When he goes to a city, the 
countryman should, as much as is convenient, con- 
form to the usages of those who are artificial in their 
habits of life, considering that improprieties occasion 
more disquiet in the town than in the country. The 
citizen should avoid every needless display of his city 



MEEKNESS. 65 

graces before country people, should not be forward 
to contemn what is local and natural, or to praise 
what is foreign and artificial, and should adopt, as 
far as a strict adherence to the rules of courtesy will 
allow, the plain and artless usages of rural life. He 
ought never to attempt to make it appear that he is 
refined, and the countryman rude. By such conduct 
he will invariably discover to well-bred country people 
the emptiness of his pretensions. The courteous 
Christian will everywhere endure with patience the 
improprieties of the uncouth, and when he meets with 
men of great talents, but of a defective sense of pro- 
priety, men of many virtues, but few ideas of refine- 
ment, women of some beauty, but little delicacy, and 
j)eople of right intentions, but rough actions, by his 
gentle and himiane conduct he will hide his own 
knowledge and their ignorance, and the chief display 
he will make of his own virtues will be in concealing 
their faults. 

In his intercourse with his brethren, the Christian 
should let meekness have her perfect work. Apathy 
and forwardness, fanaticism and hypocrisy, preten- 
sion and timidity, imj)ropriety and fastidiousness, 
will each and sometimes all together test the strength 
of this grace. In a religious body composed of 
members of every cajDacity, culture, and grade, who 
are to worship and deliberate in concert, unless this 
virtue be constantly exercised, the bond of brother- 
hood will be severed, and the cause of the Gospel be 
dishonored by uncharitable criminations, and noisy 
contentions. The Christian warrior may shed a tear 
over a disgraced comrade, but he may not despise 
the court martial that tried and condemned him. 



66 MEEKNESS. 

The safety of the army may sometimes require his 
retreat in the horn' of conflict, but it is always dis- 
honored if he desert. He who turns away offended 
with the disagreements of his brethren, neglects rare 
opportunities of self-discipline, and of showing his 
devotion to his Master. He who has the charity that 
" endureth all things," does not forsake his post in 
the hour of danger or hardship. But content to be 
exposed to the shots of the enemy, he fortifies him- 
self with the words of the prophet : " Truly this is a 
grief, and I must bear it." If he cannot always 
suffer for Christ's sake, he always suffers in His 
spirit. He prefers the honor of his Eedeemer to his 
own, and for the sake of the Christian cause, is willing 
to sufler in silence and neglect. " The Macedonian 
boy," observes Jeremy Taylor, " that kept the coal 
in his flesh, and would not shake his arm lest he 
should disturb the sacrifice, or discompose the ministry 
before Alexander the Great, concealed his pain to 
the honor of patience and religion." 

We always meekly bear the imperfection of those 
whom we love. When, therefore, we find ourselves 
indulging an impatient spirit toward our brethren, 
we may justly accuse ourselves of a deficiency of 
brotherly love. The world is full of illustrations of 
the meekness which affection exercises towards its 
object, and the divine testimonies furnish the most 
sublime instances of the meekness of Christian love. 
From St. Paul's inspired description of Charity, it 
would seem as if he deemed meekness her ruling 
virtue. His pen lingers upon it with an amplifica- 
tion that scarcely escapes tautology. Yet the 
character he sketched was not an imaginary one. 



MEEKNESS. 67 

His model was the Incarnation of divine Love, whose 
meekness had been long before the burden of 
prophecy, and was so transplendent in his life, that 
He alone of all beings, hazarded nothing by pro- 
claiming it with his own lips. 



CHAPTEK VII. 



SENSIBILITY. 



The man of real sensibility is not so miich affected 
with the corruptions as with the miseries of humanity. 
He firmly believes the doctrine of total depravity ; 
at the same time he loves to contemplate whatever is 
amiable in our fallen nature although it cannot abide 
the test of the Holy One. Some take a vicious 
pleasure in pronouncing cold and illiberal criticisms 
on the frailties of their fellow-worms. Fancying 
their minds to be furnished with a correct moral 
sense, a refined taste and accurate notions of pro- 
2)riety, they busy themselves in uttering anathemas 
against the character and deeds of others. A few 
moments devoted to self-inspection, would convince 
them that their minds are, in reality, little better 
than crucibles, which they have rendered nauseous 
by analyzing in them the worst elements in human 
nature. The man of sensibility is known not by 
spleen, but by fineness of feeling. He has that 
charity which covereth? all things, and " thinketh no 
evil." To expose and inflame the leprosy of the soul, 
is no part of his task. He exerts all his skill in 
hiding and healing it. 

8 1 Cor. 13 : 7. The verb aTtyu, translated " beareth," means to 
cover, hide, shelter. 



SENSIBILITY. 69 

Christian sensibility is that quality of the soul which 
renders it easily susceptible of salutary impressions. 
When highly cultivated it is quickly and deeply af- 
fected with pleasure or pain, by exhibitions of the 
beauties and deformities of nature and art, of right 
and wrong, of propriety and impropriety. But there 
is nothing so much shocks it as the deformity of vice 
and error, or so much delights it as the comeliness of 
virtue and truth. 

This feeling is excited in proportion to the impor- 
tance of the object which appeals to it. Hence it 
may be agitated in seeming security, and calm in 
Beeming peril ; for there is often more injury to be 
apprehended from the former than the latter. It is 
not transported with joy over a found trinket, while it 
is incapable of trembling for an endangered soul or 
mourning for a lost one. The children of pleasure 
have an extreme tenderness on subjects of little con- 
sequence, and an entire insensibility on those of infi- 
nite concern. They can bedew with tears untold vol- 
umes describing scenes of ideal suffering, but have no 
compassion for real misery. They are thrown into 
paroxysms if they happen to commit an impropriety, 
yet they do not scruple to herd with the paragons of 
vice. They are thrown into great commotion by some 
trifling accident — something that disappoints their 
expectations or opposes their desires ; but when sick 
of pleasure, they can cut their throats or blow out 
their brains with entire calmness. After a life of 
moral stupor they plunge into the bottomless gulf, 
with something of the recklessness with which Satan 
is described as having done before them, exclaim- 



70 SENSIBILITY. 

" Hail, horror ! hail, 
Infernal world ! and thou, profoundest hell, 
Receive thy new possessor." 

If ever the Christian finds his sensibility unequal 
to the occasion for it, he should not attempt to sup- 
ply the deficiency by an aff'ectation of it. An hon- 
est man will prefer being destitute of some one of 
the virtues, to substituting a counterfeit in the place 
of a sterling virtue. Some who are unwilling to cher- 
ish those graces whence alone this virtue springs, in 
the hour of need grasp after it in vain. They abound 
in frigid raj)tures and hollow exclamations, affecting 
more feeling than would be suitable to persons of ar- 
dent piety, and attempting to conceal the want of 
feeling under extravagant expressions of it. Others, 
not unlike these, aff'ect superior refinement and taste, 
but are frequently found to be glaringly defective 
in these qualities. The expression of their inclina- 
tions and aversions are strong and unqualified. They 
so often complain of taste violated, modesty shocked, 
and politeness outraged, that it requires patience her- 
self to listen to them. The fabulous mole that ex- 
pressed great surprise at the assaults made on his 
senses by strange odors, sounds, and sights, was chi- 
ded by his dam with the remark that, if he would 
have people allow him any sense at all, he should 
not affect more than nature had given him. 

A pious sensibility sympathizes with all the justi- 
fiable joys and sorrows of others. It can "rejoice 
with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that 
weep." Some pretend to be little disturbed by all 
the vicissitudes and events that affect the spirit in 
this its gossamer tabernacle. But they have not the 



SENSIBILITY. 71 

heart of Christ. He could weep alike over a repro- 
bate city and the grave of his friend. He did not 
refrain from expressing his agonj, either in the re- 
tirement of Gethsemane or before the crowd on Gol- 
gotha. E'or did he turn scornfully away from the 
allowable festivities of men. Behold him at the mar- 
riage of Cana, and at the dinner of the publicans. 
His susceptible soul easily vibrated at the touch of 
joy and sorrow. His conduct was neither stoical 
nor bigoted. When the sanctimonious Pharisees and 
the austere disciples of John asked him, saying, 
"Why do we fast oft; but thy disciples fast not?" 
He replied, " Can the children of the bride-chamber 
mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?" 
showing them by an appeal to their own sense of 
propriety the incongruity of sadness at a wedding. 
Such is his sympathy with his disciples that they can 
have no good or ill which he does not feel. So inti- 
mate is his connection with the church that he who 
harms her, crucifies him afresh ; and he who inten- 
tionally wounds the heart of any member of his mys- 
tical body, pierces again his side with the spear; 
whatever is done to His little ones is done to Him. 
Let us always be able to make His language our 
own ; " Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of 
these my brethren, ye have done it unto me :" let our 
tears be ever mingled with those of our brethren, and 
let their smiles ever kindle ours. 

That code of manners, too widely prevalent, which 
forbids men to betray the slightest emotion in pub- 
lic, while it should be observed, on some occasions, 
ought not to be regarded in a religious assembly. 
This courtly frigidity is destructive to the soul, and 



72 SENSIBILITY. 

lias long seriously hindered the progress of evangeli- 
cal principles among the fashionable classes of soci- 
ety. Ko Christian can safely assume the deportment 
of the stately worldling, who while the assembly is 
moved beneath the voice of God and the power of 
the Divine Spirit, sits with a heart untouched with 
sympathy, and a countenance unenlivened with truth, 
and though in the presence of God and man, seems 
proudly to renounce the society of both. When the 
Christian goes to the house of God, he professes to 
render to Him the outward expression of a devotional 
soul. But what is his professed worship except a 
lifeless form, when he suppresses in his bosom every 
holy feeling ? Take away from primitive piety the 
hearty and fearless manner which invested its ac- 
tions, and it would be scarcely better than the exte- 
rior accomplishments of the courtier. It would be 
evangelical piety no more. Had the elders of Ephe- 
6US, when taking a final leave of Paul, withheld their 
tears, and refrained from embraces and kisses, their 
cold civility and feigned dignity might have recom- 
mended them to modern good-breeding, but they 
would have denied to all succeeding generations a 
scene in which brotherly love discloses her own celes- 
tial majesty and tenderness. 



CHAPTEK YHI. 

DELICACY. 

The secret of the art of pleasing lies chiefly in a 
constant attention to small, and often indescribable 
things. The minor graces of behavior are like cer- 
tain powders which, though composed of particles so 
light that a slight whiff blows them away, can polish a 
metallic sm-face to the highest brilliancy. By re- 
moving the asperities of individuals, they take away the 
impediments in the machinery of society, and make it 
run without noise and self-destruction. Most persons 
are more easily offended by trifles, than by matters of 
consequence. A slight neglect, a petty provocation, 
or a trifling accident fills them with confusion, or 
convulses them with rage. They think their reputa- 
tion is concerned in serenely suffering great evils, 
and fear they would" be charged with insensibility 
and want of spirit, did they not fret under small ones. 

These flaws of passion it is the office of delicacy 
either to prevent or remove ; for it is that quality of 
a benevolent mind and a courteous behavior which 
consists in a quick sense of whatever gives pleasure 
or pain, united with a minute observance of all those 
little things which promote the one and prevent the 
other. This virtue has often been confounded with 
D 



74 DELICACY. 

sensibility, which keenly feels pleasure or pain, and 
sympathizes with the feelings of others ; also with 
that sensitiveness which, while it does not shun giv- 
ing pain to others, is hurt by the slightest inatten- 
tion from them. Nor is delicacy synonymous with 
fastidiousness. It is not aj)palled at the sight of a 
boot or an ungloved hand ; it does not faint at a slip 
of the tongue or a breach of etiquette. It does not 
stand aloof from a man because his coat is of coarse 
materials, ill-shaj)en, or awkwardly worn. Delicacy 
is a nice and intuitive perception of the disposition 
and condition of another, with the view of adminis- 
tering to his happiness. It enjoys the pleasure it 
gives rather than the pleasure it receives, and is 
more pained by an injury done another, than by one 
inflicted on itself. It is something more than a scru- 
pulous attention to all the punctilios of politeness. 
For one may indirectly shock tender sensibilities, re- 
buke good intentions, mortify the ignorant, intimi- 
date the bashful, slight the poor, deceive the unsus- 
pecting, and do many other injuries which delicacy 
could never commit, all in obedience to the received 
laws of politeness. Delicacy does indeed regard 
every suggestion of true elegance, but it extends 
its influence far beyond them, and prevents abuses 
which the most explicit rules cannot reach. As the 
attendant of charity, it refines her perceptions, dif- 
fuses her favors, and discovers to her countless ob- 
jects of beneficence, which she would otherwise have 
overlooked, and guides her in the performance of her 
minutest duties. 

The duty of delicacy is implied in several parts of 
the sacred Oracle, as, "A bruised reed shall he not 



DELICACY. 75 

break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench." 
'' He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful 
also in much," "Be kind to one another, tender- 
hearted." "Be kindly aflectioned one toward an- 
other." As a virtue, it was practised by St. Paul, 
who says of himself: " I please all men in all things." 

Some suppose this quality, being so attentive to lit- 
tle things, is the mark of a narrow and trifling spirit. 
On the contrary, it is seldom found in any other than 
generous and capacious souls. Since every great sub- 
ject is composed of details, he who lacks the nice 
percej^tions requisite to examine those details, cannot 
form an accurate judgment with respect to it. It is 
a characteristic of great minds, that they easily per- 
ceive those small, yet important objects, facts, and 
incidents, which common minds are slow to discover. 
Lord Bacon affirms that he who cannot contract his 
mind as well as dilate it, wants a great talent in life. 
It shows the infinite caj^acity no less than the benev- 
olent condescension of the divine Mind, that it is as 
attentive to the fire-fly which lights up only a bed of 
flowers, as to the star that twinkles for the universe. 

'Not has the great God shown this attribute in his 
providence alone. As Immanuel, the God with man, 
his precepts and example taught his disciples to con- 
descend to the most lowly acts of kindness. When 
he was about to return to the eternal throne, and to 
resume the sceptre of universal empire, he took a 
towel and girded himself, and washed his disciples' 
feet. Thus does he impress U23on the minds of his 
followers, especially the more distinguished of them, 
that they should not disdain to perform any service, 
however humble and mean, but cheerfully stoop to 



76 DELICACY. 

every attention which delicacy can suggest. And 
the Lord of all was not insensible to any neglect or 
observance of the civilities due to himself. When 
the j^enitent woman showed him those marks of re- 
spect and friendship which Simon the Pharisee had 
neglected, he vindicated her conduct while he re- 
buked his host for withholding from him those atten- 
tions which it was customary to pay to guests. "He 
turned to the woman and- said unto Simon, Seest thou 
this woman ? I entered into thy house, thou gavest 
me no water for my feet ; but she hath washed my 
feet with tears and wiped them with the hairs of her 
head. Thou gavest me no kiss ; but this woman since 
the time that I came in hath not ceased to kiss my 
feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint : but this 
woman hath anointed my feet with ointment." After 
he had by washing his disciples' feet, taught them 
the duty of kind condescension, he said, " If ye know 
these things, happy are ye if ye do them." Haj)])}^ 
indeed are those disciples of Christ who are never 
superior to the humblest minutiae of charity. And 
bad as the times are, we are not wanting in attractive 
examples of this virtue. The late Dr. Cornelius was, 
as his biographer informs us, " remarkably attentive 
to the little wants and wishes of his friends. He did 
not reserve his kindness for great occasions. A per- 
son looking back on a week in which he had been in 
his society, could hardly reckon the number of atten- 
tions which he had received from him. This mani- 
festation of interest in another's welfare was not de- 
signed to awaken gratitude towards himself, or to 
requite the favors which had been shown him, but 
they were the spontaneous product of a heart which 



DELICACY. 77 

rejoiced in the happiness of man. This trait of char- 
acter was as apparent in regard to total strangers as 
in respect to others. In a stage-coach or steamboat, 
he was ever consulting the convenience of his fellow- 
passengers. However humble their circumstances, 
he was accustomed, with the utmost cheerfulness, to 
give u]) his own accommodations, no matter how fully 
entitled to them, accompanying the surrender of his 
right with some pleasant observation, which won the 
good-will of all those who were present. 'No one, 
perhaps, was more successful in securing the remem- 
brance and respect of the agents of stage-coach com- 
panies, and other employers, about our public con- 
veyances. On this account it was a pri^dlege to have 
his company in a journey, as the esteem which he 
won for himself was extended to his associates. 

His manner of performing an act of kindness could 
not have been better chosen if he had accurately an- 
alyzed the laws of the human mind which regulate 
the intercourse of friendship. He delighted to wit- 
ness the happiness which an unexpected favor pro- 
duced. He made use of those little artifices of affec- 
tion, which sometimes produce the most permanent 
effects, because they show that the kindness was pre- 
meditated, and therefore came from the heart, which 
was consulting for another's benefit." 

This was a conspicuous trait in the character of the 
late Dr. J^eander. We might add the names of other 
great souls, were they not as yet kept back from the 
skies, to be ennobling patterns to mortals. 

The son of Sirach declares that " he who contem- 
neth small things, shall fall by little and little."" 
fi Eccles. 19 : 1. 



78 DELICACY. 

Let a i3erson neglect those little acts of kindness on 
which friendship necessarily subsists, and he will 
gradually alienate from himself all his friends. A 
cheerful endurance of an idle whim, a silly custom, 
or a capricious fashion has prevented many jealous- 
ies and quarrels, while, on the other hand, an open 
Bcorn of these matters has made many an one as un- 
couth and snarling as a Diogenes. A single viola- 
tion of tender felings, when considered apart, may 
not be very displeasing, yet when received as pre- 
paring the way for a long train of them, it may be 
intolerable. So a single instance of delicacy might 
be scarcely worthy of observation, did it not furnish 
a clue to the character, and stand as a kind of tacit 
promise of numberless others like the first. 

Why is it that the conversation of some persons 
looses us from all j^ainful restraints, drives away all 
anxiety, leaves us at ease, and diffuses over our souls 
a serene and lasting pleasure ? Is it not because the 
services of delicacy are constantly repeated, until, 
by blending in our minds the fruition, the remem- 
brance, and the anticipation of themselves, they form 
sources of pure and varied delight ? The maxim of 
the son of Sirach is applicable to all ranks of soci- 
ety. By disregarding it, the lowest is made some- 
what lower, and the highest sinks to the level of the 
lowest. The great, especially, cannot afford to neg- 
lect what is small in manners. " Dead flies cause 
the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stink- 
ing savor : so doth a little folly him that is in reputa- 
tion for wisdom and honor.'"" He who esteems him- 
self above the petty usages of society, renders himself 

10 Eccles. 10 : 1. 



DELICACY. 79 

more insignificant than the things he despises. Men 
naturally desire to make him little, who affects to 
disdain their own littleness. Said Dr. Johnson to 
Mr. Boswell : " There is nothing, sir, too little for so 
little a creature as man. It is by studying little 
things that we attain to the great art of having as 
little misery as possible, and as much hapj^iness as 
possible." 

The Christian can ill afford to practise the greater 
duties of charity, to the neglect of the lesser. Some 
benevolent persons can cheerfully, as they ought to 
do, part with their coin, in order to increase the hap- 
piness of those who live in distant parts of the earth, 
but find it hard to diffuse the soft influences of kind- 
ness in general society, in their own neighborhood, 
among their friends and brethren, in the social circle 
and at the domestic fireside. They are benevolent, 
but they are not courteous. Some will lavish their 
liberalities on people, and then abuse them. But 
the most active generosity cannot make amends for 
small acts of unkindness. Few easily recover from 
an insult offered them by their benefactors. The 
omission of a single attention which delicacy w^ould 
have suggested, has stifled sentiments of gratitude, 
which it required a long-jDractised benevolence to in- 
spire. Let no one imagine that the amount of his 
charities will be deemed a sufficient apology for 
trifling with the finer feelings of those whom Provi- 
dence has made dependent on his charities. ]^or let 
any suppose that to be a more elevated benevolence, 
which shows itself in generosity and public spirit, 
than that which appears in uniform delicacy of man- 
ners. Those who pray for the advancement of con- 



80 DELICACY. 

sistent piety will count the latter the silent, mighty, 
far-spread dews that descend on the mountains of 
Zion, and the former the noisy, narrow, vernal tor- 
rents that vaingloriously dash over their cliffs. What 
is it that a man is a patron of all the benevolent so- 
cieties ; what is it that the glow of his gold gleams 
athwart the shades of eastern jungles and western 
wildernesses, lights up the dark islands of ocean, and 
melts the frozen poles, if he habitually despise the 
nameless little charities of life, if he be wont to chill 
the domestic hearth, and the hearts of his brethren 
and neighbors with a blunt, morose, and disobliging 
behavior ? In confirmation of these views the eye 
of the reader is directed to an admired leaf in the 
unfading chaplet of Mrs. Hannah More. 

" Since trifles make the sum of human things, 
And half our misery from our foibles springs ; 
Since life's best joys consist in peace and ease, 
And few can stand and serve, but all may please: 
Oh let the ungentle spirit learn from hence, 
A small unkindness is a great offence. 
To spread large bounties though we wish in vain, 
Yet all may shun the guilt of giving pain." 

Fidelity in little matters is the surest test of Chris- 
tian character. A small favor to a stranger, a gentle 
action to a relation, or a kind word to a servant, is 
not likely to be dictated by motives of ambition. 
The accommodating services and pacifying forbear- 
ances of obscure life which can never be published to 
the world ; or, if published, could not gain renown, 
are not prompted by a thirst for applause. How 
much meaning is there in those words of our Divine 
Master, " He that is faithful in the least is faithful 
also in much." 



DELICACY. 81 

But, at the same time, it is painful to admit that 
there are professors who appear to find exquisite 
gratification in observing the customs of propriety, 
civility, and hospitality, while they answer the calls 
of general benevolence with manifest reluctance. 
Covetousness, even niggardness is quite consistent 
with an exterior politeness. The Pharisees loved 
greetings in the market-places as much as they did to 
devour widows' houses. Of the three texts which 
give us any clue to the character of Demas, one con- 
veys his greetings to the disciples at Colosse, the 
other to Philemon, and the other describes him as 
loving this present world, forsaking Paul and going 
to Thessalonica. 

Such instances are exceeding few among decided 
Christians. The Christ-like man is in no danger of 
confining his benevolence to mere compliments, or 
of exhausting it on the laudable services of courtesy. 
The illuminating truths of divine revelation ; his 
moral state and progress ; the numerous temptations 
of life ; its heavy duties ; and above all, a love which 
is serving his God, and the S23iritual interests of his 
brother, his neighbor, and the alien — these so fill the 
soul of the Christian that he would fain excuse him- 
self from the inferior engagements of society ; from ad- 
ministering to the mere temporal enjoyments of men ; 
and from spending his working-day in the amenities 
of friendshi]3 and the civilities of the idle world. He 
is wise in refusing to devote his life to the mere 
amusement of his perishing fellows : but while on the 
other hand his great and compassionate soul em- 
braces the universal race, let it not forget the individ- 
ual ; and as he looks up with eager eyes to the glories 



82 DELICACY. 

of another world, let him not be heedless of his be- 
havior in his intercourse with this ; otherwise, his 
folly w^ill be but feebly illustrated by that of Thales, 
the old Greek astronomer, who was so absorbed in 
contemplation of the stars, that he wandered from his 
way and stumbled into a well. 



CHAPTEE IX. 

PROPRIETY. 

" Charitt," says the apostle Paul, " doth not be- 
have itself miseemlj." Her very nature justifies this 
sacred declaration. She ever instinctively aims to 
make others happy by consulting whatever is becom- 
ing. Impropriety of speech or of behavior is offen- 
sive, and consequently cannot be the dictates of this 
grace who is herself all comeliness and benignity, 
and inspires in others just notions of the suitable and 
the pleasing. ISTor is it hazarding anything to say 
that true decorum will be studied and practised by 
mankind in proportion as they are actuated by her 
spirit. 

The sacred Oracles address not only the conscience, 
but the sense of propriety. They everywhere speak 
to man of a being who has the faculty of discerning, 
and relishing whatever is becoming, beautiful, and 
graceful. They also aim to refine this faculty, by 
furnishing it with numerous lessons and examples of 
meet and comely behavior. More especially do they 
set forth the kind of conduct which is suitable to 
Christians, as, "Holiness lecometh thy house, O Lord, 
forever." " Praise hecometh the upright." St. Pa.ul 
directs the Roman believers to observe the rites of 



84 PEOPRIETY. 

hospitality according to the dictates of Christian de- 
corum : " I commend unto you, Phebe, our sister. . . 
that ye receive her in the Lord as hecometh saints." 
He also addresses Timothy to exhort women to adorn 
themselves with good works : " as hecometh women 
professing godliness ;" and Titus to entreat aged 
women to behave " as hecometh holiness." These 
commands make it the duty of the Christian to culti- 
vate the highest kind of propriety, and to practise a 
style of conduct peculiarly adapted to his holy char- 
acter. It is not sufficient that his manners be such as 
befits the man of the world : they must be such as 
befits the Christian. A deportment which is suitable 
to the worldling is in general very unsuitable to him. 
This duty requires the Christian to maintain pro- 
priety in the entire drift and course of his conduct. 
The exhortation of the apostle is, " Let us walk de- 
cently," by which he means that the tenor of our 
conduct should be regulated by a just sense of pro- 
priety. He would have us act as besorts us not 
merely in the public assembly or in the social party, 
but also in the sphere of our domestic duties. He 
who would gain or preserve a character for propriety 
should regard its dictates as well in private as in 
public ; for he who studies the decencies of behavior 
on public occasions alone, when he ought to have 
nothing to do but to practise them, cannot comport 
himself courteously anywhere. I^or may this pre- 
cept be construed as applying exclusively to a cer- 
tain period of life. It does not require youth to be 
modest, obliging, and deferential ; and yet allow 
middle age to be indelicate, selfish, and rude ; and 
old age to be slovenly, petulant, and arrogant. It 



PROPRIETY. 85 

requires us perpetually to improve in propriety of 
manners from the cradle to the grave. 

The obligations of propriety extend yet further. 
They reach the minutest action. "Whether we per- 
form a deed which attracts public attention, or one 
that is noticed only by a few, or which jDasses entirely 
unobserved, we are bound to do it with propriet}^. 
The command, " Let all things be done decently," is 
of constant and universal application. Many precej^ts 
may be executed before or after others, but this 
should be performed simultaneously with every other. 
The duty of propriety wraps itself round each other 
duty. This is the sacred fire upon the altar of the 
mind which should bm-n continually, gild with its 
blaze every sacrifice, and cast its light on every ser- 
vice. 

Our sense of the befitting needs to be ever active, 
that we may behave, not only as becomes a Christian, 
but also as becomes our own peculiar situation. Each, 
age, sex, and condition has its characteristic deport- 
ment, and this again is to be modified according to 
circumstances. The same conduct is not alike proper 
or improper in an old and in a young person, in a 
man and in a woman, in a member of one profession 
and in that of another, in a public and in a private 
person, in one of a higher and in one of a lower rank 
in society. Then each one, after determining what 
conduct fitly belongs to his general character, his 
station, and the like, must know how to shape his 
behavior to casual conditions of person, time, and 
place. 

Decorum and virtue are so near akin that it is 
easier to perceive the difference between them, than 



8Q PROPRIETY. 

to explain it." Thus much may be said by way 
of distinction, that every virtuous action is deco- 
rous, but every decorous action is not virtuous. 
!N"ot only should every action be performed agree- 
ably to the sense of moral right, but it should also 
be performed agreeably to the sense of propriety. 
Conduct which is improper may be morally wrong, 
and that which is proper may be morally right ; the 
faculty of propriety and that of conscience can both 
judge of the same act. If they agree in all their de- 
cisions, both are to be considered equally cultivated 
or neglected, if they disagree, one, if not both, is 
morally disordered. The sense of propriety, however 
has a more minute and extensive control over the 
conduct of most men than conscience. It directs 
their actions where, from some defect of conscience^ 
they would not be able to decide by a reference to. the 
latter. But a person of cultivated conscience, after 
having performed an act dictated by propriety, will 
upon a review of the action generally find it to be 
approved by the moral sense also. Likewise when he 
has violated the sense of propriety, it inflicts upon him 
a sting not unlike the compunctions of conscience ; 
and when he comes to be sensible that he has also 
disobeyed the laws of conscience, he suffers their 
penalties along with those of the broken statutes of 
propriety. 

In the minds of some Christians these faculties act 
in admirable harmony ; in most men of the world 
the sense of propriety is at variance with the sense of 
right, and is irregular in its decisions. The sense of 
propriety is often divorced from the moral sense for 
" Cicero de Officiis, L. 1. c. xxxvii. 



PliOPKIETY. 87 

the crime of prostituting itself to the arbitrary usages 
of societ}', which, as they are sometimes wrong, they 
must be sometimes improper. By an unscruj)ulous 
compliance with whatever fashion or usage sanctions, 
the sense of propriety ceases to decide for itself the 
quality of actions, and refuses to submit them to the 
judgment of conscience. All ideas of propriety and 
right being thus confounded, or at least neglected, 
the sense of the becoming and the sense of right are 
equally corrupted. 'No sooner is virtue exchanged 
for vice than refinement degenerates into coarseness. 
Those therefore who denounce the moral virtues, do in 
the same breath virtually deny propriety. Those 
who are as proud of their gentility as they are of their 
ungodliness, are their own dupes ; for did they under- 
stand their own nature, they would know that just so 
far as their hearts are vicious, must the sense of pro- 
priety be corrupted — that every act which violates 
the conscience also violates the sense of the becom- 
ing, and that by disqualifying themselves for the 
society of angels they are at the same time unfitting 
themselves for the society of men. 

There are those who suj)i3ose it to be the tendency 
of the sacred Scriptures to vitiate our ideas of the be- 
coming, and to set at naught all refinement. But 
let none imagine that the oracles of God anyw^here en- 
courage the slightest impropriety. All the ordinan- 
ces and rites of the Patriarchal, the Levitical, and the 
Christian dispensations conform to the principles of 
true fitness, as well as thelaws of just taste. And if any 
of the sacred characters ever betray a defective sense 
of propriety, it ought not to be laid to the charge of 
their religion, but to their departures from its require- 



88 PROPRIETY. 

ments. The holy writings abound with precepts and 
instances of propriety. JSToah, the preacher of right- 
eousness, and the only man whom the Just One deem 
ed deserving to be the father of the races which were 
to repeople the purified earth, has given to his posterity 
the most signal proof of the importance he attached 
to the observances of propriety even toward the 
drunken. By delicately regarding them, Shem and 
Japheth procured their father's blessing, became, in 
their descendants, the inheritors of the fairest portion 
of the earth, and the rulers of the rest of mankind. 
By wantonly disregarding them. Ham received in his 
offspring the paternal curse. For this, his son Canaan 
and his descendants were doomed either to servitude 
or extermination, while his other sons received their 
inheritance in desert regions, and were sentenced to 
be the slaves of their more refined brethren. And to 
this day the posterity of Ham, degraded at home 
and enslaved abroad — Heaven hates the oppressor — • 
continue to suffer as they have done for thousands of 
years, the consequences of a single act of impropriety. 



CHAPTEE X. 

SINCERITY. 

A BEHAVIOR marked by simplicitj, always be- 
comes the child of God. The Divine Master bid his 
disciples admire the guileless Israelite, and regard 
the openness of his conduct as the best mark of his 
high birth. J^othing has more of moral beauty and 
gracefulness than the unstudied manifestation in 
deportment of a soul at once luminous and pm-e. 
For such a spirit to disguise its qualities were to 
conceal its charms. Innocence needs no covering. 
The Grecians used to represent the graces unclothed, 
to signify that artlessness and candor are requisite 
to pleasing manners. 

Sincerity requires our words and actions not to 
misrepresent our thoughts and designs. Propriety 
sometimes leads us to confine in our own breasts 
our purposes and feelings ; but sincerity demands 
that, when we profess to declare them, we should 
really do so. 

The gay world is satisfied with a pleasing exterior, 
and acts on the principle that we are not account- 
able for our manners. Hence their code of polite- 
ness violates the plainest principles of morality. 
They attempt to justify it by maintaining that there 



90 SINCERITY. 

is no living in the world without such regulations — 
that it is our duty to please, at all hazards, and that 
it were contemptible to make such trifles matters of 
conscience. Their concern is not whether an action 
be right, but whether it be gracefully performed; 
not whether a remark be true, but whether it be 
elegantly expressed. But manners can never be 
divorced from morals ; and although these persons 
may think it degrading their dignity to attach a 
moral qjaality to every action, the great God does 
not deem it unworthy his infinite majesty to preserve 
a record of each vicious thought and idle word, and 
to present it in evidence before the Supreme Court 
of the Universe. 

Since men commonly form their estimate of one's 
character from his manners, and since manners con- 
sist much in appearances, those who are anxious to 
preserve their place in the good opinion of others, 
are tempted to exhibit the symbol when they can- 
not show the substance. jSTumbers are content with 
the reputation of virtue, without giving themselves 
the trouble of deserving it. They take the greatest 
pains to disguise a bad heart, but make no efforts 
to acquire a good one. But perfectly to conceal a 
vicious character is beyond the power of human in- 
genuity ; the cloak of hyjDOcrisy betrays the wearer 
by its own scantiness. Were it possible to master 
all the mysteries in the art of deception, it would be 
easier to procm-e honesty of heart and simplicity of 
behavior, than long to conceal from others our real 
character, or to impose on them a false one. 

Sincerity embellishes every virtuous action. As 
the blood which gives life and beauty to the count- 



SINCERITY. 91 

enance springs out of the heart, so every true charm 
of deportment is supplied from the soul, and it is the 
more winning because its origin is not obscure. Ill- 
timed and ill-placed actions are seldom repulsive 
when they are recommended by honesty and frank- 
ness. 

It must be owned, however, that outward actions 
are at best but imperfect indications of the interior 
virtues of a soul, which is the honored abode of the 
Holy SjDirit. They can never tell of the large de- 
sires of such a soul for the well-being of others 
which it has not the means to gratify. They can- 
not do justice to the love and solicitude that are 
even alive in the breast, but are forbidden to dis- 
close themselves, except on rare occasions. Every 
virtue has its time, place, and object, and cannot be 
expected to exert itself to all, at all times and in all 
places. How often have we come unexpectedly 
upon an excellence in the character of our neigh- 
bors, which had long lay concealed from us, and 
have brought to light a vein of gold where we were 
only looking for solid rock ; and, as we cannot 
judge from the edge of such a vein, how far and 
wide it extends, so we can divine but vaguely from 
the words and actions of the most open-minded 
man, how deeply seated are the pious habits, how 
enlightened the principles, and how glorious the 
hopes that are in some sort embedded in the hidden 
layers of his soul. 

Of the various hypocrisies practised by the world, 
the imitation of Christian courtesy, with a view to 
disguise their selfish feelings, and to render them- 
selves agreeable to one another, is undoubtedly the 



92 SINCERITY. 

least pernicious. ^Yliere there is guilt, there will be 
concealment. There are many vicious acts which, 
if we cannot hinder men from performing, we 
ought at least to induce them to conceal. The most 
corrupt are not so lost to a sense of propriety as to 
run an open career of vice, even where they have 
nothing to fear from detection. It would be an 
attemi)t on the peace and security of every social 
circle, to advise ungodly natures to dispense with 
that politeness which throws an elegant exterior 
over the corrujDtions of the heart, and to appear be- 
fore all hearts just as they are. The disguises of 
men are not so blamable as the vices which render 
them necessary. When we fail to lead people to 
courtesy, we shall gain something if we can conduct 
them to jDoliteness. When the Creator could no 
longer preserve the innocence of our first parents, in 
mercy toward their shame he made for them gar- 
ments. The politeness of the world, by the com- 
mendable services in which it sometimes engages, 
shows that it proceeds from one of the loveliest and 
least marred features in the broken image of God. 
Those heathens, the children of Heth, were very 
generous and resj)ectful in their dealings with 
Abraham. The young man of fortune who came 
to Jesus asking, what good thing he should do to 
inherit eternal life, was frank and amiable. Julius 
and Publius, though probably not Christians, for 
their humane and hosj)itable attentions to St. Paul 
and his companions, obtained complimentary men- 
tion in the narrative of apostolic deeds. 

Still, much of the politeness of the world is faulty, 
not so much because it covers the corruption of the 



SINCERITY. 93 

8oul, as because it gives to it an attractive lustre. 
Many of its observances seem to recommend flattery 
and deceit, as well as protect crime and irreligion. 
Debasing as these customs are, the votaries of fashion 
to whose condition they are adaj^ted, look upon them 
as valuable, since they minister to the pleasures, and, 
as they sujDpose, preserve the harmony of their cir- 
cles. Although they are mere refined hypocrisies, 
these persons j)ractise them with all the boldness of 
conscious innocence, and all the eargerness of in- 
creasing delight. By mutually concealing their 
faults, they become tolerable to one another. They 
like each other better in masks, than when dressed 
in character. Their very recreations are but games 
of deception, and reciprocations of fraud. "They 
sport themselves with their own deceivings." 

The vice most directly opposed to sincerity, is dis- 
simulation. The least tincture of it in the mind, 
tarnishes the simplicity of the manners, and diffuses 
a dark and mysterious hue over all the character. 
Dissimulation, in some form or other, widely prevails 
in the world, and numbers who dare not practise it 
in matters of religion, unscrupulously use it in the 
circles of society, and the marts of business. But 
whether it serves as a cloak to cover a plot against 
the altars of religion, the confidence of a friend, or 
the purse of a neighbor, it is alike wicked and de- 
testable. Dissimulation, however, ought to be dis- 
tinguished from that secrecy which is observed from 
kind intentions, and does not mislead any one. To 
conceal benevolent designs under a countenance that 
does not deceive is not to practise, 



94 SIKCERITY. 

" , , smooth dissimulation, skilled to grace 
A devil's purpose with an angel's face " 

It is a notion which has long been current in the 
world, that a certain degree of dissimulation is abso- 
lutely requisite to rank and authority. When Louis 
IX. King of France was asked whether his son, the 
dauphin, should learn Latin, he replied ; " All the 
Latin necessary for him to know, is the phrase, ' Qui 
nescit dissimulare^ nescit regnare? "^* A weak and 
vicious prince may hold the homage of his people by 
hiding his real designs under feints of wisdom or 
virtue ; but no sovereign worthy a crown ever sought 
by false appearances to cover either his character or 
his policy. Dissimulation is rather the art of a slave 
than that of a king, and Joshua seems to have been 
of this opinion when in punishment of it, he con- 
signed the Gibeonites to servitude. 

The union of great caution Avith seeming frankness, 
what Sir Henry Wotton called " the open visage and 
the shut thoughts," is one of the most dangerous 
forms of dissimulation. It was under this guise that 
Joab approached Amasa, inquiring after his health, 
and kissing him that he might strike his sword into 
his heart. This prompted the kiss with which Judas 
betrayed his Master. It was with this that the 
assassinators of Caesar prostrated themselves in 
homage at his feet, and rose up to plunge their 
daggers into his bosom. It is this that Machiavelli 
recommends, and Lord Chesterfield repeatedl}^ advises 
his son to acquire. ^^ To assume an appearance of 

^2 He who knows not how to dissemble, knows not how to rule, 
^3 Volto sciolto e pensieri siretti \ an open face with close thoughts. 

Machiavelli would almost seem to have translated into Italian, what 

Sir Henry Wotton had previously said in English, 



SINCERITY. 95 

openness, recklessness, or levity with a view to extort 
information from others, or to conceal and execute 
some false designs against them, is to have made no 
small progress in courtly intrigue and falsehood. 
But it is not always by a show of frankness, giddi- 
ness, or thoughtlessness that those who use these arts, 
execute their conspiracies. They sometimes hide 
their crooked and complicated plots under airs of 
plainness, artlessness and ignorance. The latter are 
the most dangerous characters because they seem to 
be least so. 

How superior to each dark device is that just union 
of sincerity and prudence, which it is the duty of the 
Christian to exhibit in his conduct. When these are 
duly combined they help to form an admirable style 
of manners — manners, in which appears cheerfulness 
without levity, gravity without haughtiness, frankness 
without rudeness, and caution without craftiness. 

The divine command, to which every Christian 
ought to give constant heed, is : " Let love be without 
dissimulation." An entire correspondence between 
the mind and the demeanor is requisite to the mainte- 
nance of Christian brotherhood. It is this simplicity 
of conduct which inspires in the bosoms of fellow- 
disciples that reciprocal confidence which the chil- 
dren of the world are not accustomed to repose in one 
another. Every salutation and expression of regard 
should be the sincere utterance of a kind heart. 
"When oiu" divine Master was going to take leave of 
his disciples, he said : " Peace I leave with you ; my 
peace I give unto you ;" but as if perceiving that his 
disciples were receiving his words as no more than a 
formal farewell, such as was heartlessly exchanged 



96 SINCERITY. 

in the intercourse of the world, he added : " not as 
the world giveth, give I unto you :" assuring them 
that, unlike the generality of men in their inter- 
change of compliments, he was sincere in what he 
had said. So unmeaning and unfeeling have the 
salutations and congratulations of men come to be, 
that it is scarcely a matter of observation when they 
are omitted, and they are seldom received as expres- 
sions of hearty good-will when they are observed. 

How grateful it is to make good one's retreat from 
the frigid and hypocritical manoeuvres of the world 
into the society of single-hearted Christians, 

' Where fashion shall not sanctify abuse, 
Nor smooth good breeding — supplemental grace — 
With lean performance ape the work of love ;" 

where sincerity gives security to the commerce of 
kindred minds, and the artless elegance of holy souls 
keeps at a distance all disquietness. 



CHAPTER XI. 



Theee is no feeling which, affects the deportment 
more than zeal. "While it bm-ns in the very core of 
the soul it is not confined to it, but sends its glow 
and flush to the outward man, pervading his extrem- 
est and smallest featm-es, and peculiarizing his hab- 
its, humors and whims. Its relation to courtesy, 
therefore, is so intimate and influential, that this 
part of the work ought not to be concluded without 
some remarks upon it. 

Evangelical zeal is as indefinable as the love which 
is its vital principle. All we can say of it is, that it 
is the passionate ardor of Christian love inflaming 
the heart, animating the intellect, energizing the 
actions, and enlivening the manners. The man of 
true zeal shows due devotion to God and to his 
neighbor. He does not wilfully affront his fellow, 
and say, "It is in doing God's service," nor tm-n 
undutifuUy away from his heavenly Father, saying, 
"I go to embrace my brother." He does not en- 
deavor by loud prayers to overpower the sighs of the 
perishing, nor is he so intent on binding up a shat- 
tered world as to overlook a broken heart. In the 
pursuit of a holy object he does not forget to rever- 
E 



98 Z E A L. 

ence God and respect man. The six- winged seraphim 
in the vision of the prophet is a befitting emblem of 
such a man ; " with twain he covered his face, with 
twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did flj." 

There is a kind of frenzy which springs from a de- 
sire of applause or of notoriety. He who is j)ossessed 
with it finds satisfaction, not in doing good and re- 
ceiving the ajDprobation of his own conscience, but 
in doing admirably, and being praised by his fel- 
lows. Jehu showed this spirit when he gave his 
hand to Jehonadab and took him up into his chariot, 
saying : " Come and see my zeal for the Lord.'* 
Only let such an one hear the huzzas of the multi- 
tude, and he can leave his headlong course crim- 
soned with the gore of souls. Amid the gracefulness 
of his curvetings, and the stir of his impetuosity, he 
is lost to all danger and to all misery. 'Not sl few 
have obtained a wider publicity by their insanity than 
their sober senses could ever have procured them. 
Outcry and raving always compel our attention, 
sometimes excite our pity, but never command our 
respect. 

Related to such are those who crave the reputation 
of superior piety. These are never so zealous as 
when they are praising their own zeal. If their 
vain glorious deeds fail of being seen — and men nat- 
urally close their eyes at what is forced upon their 
sight — they resolve that their boasting words shall 
not fail of being heard. They never want breath to 
pronounce a eulogy over the lifeless remains of their 
own piety. "Were they content with the approbation 
of God and angels, they might be honored of men ; 
but being too eager for mortal fame, they win the 



ZEAL. 99 

name of devout braggarts. If a Christian must boast, 
lie should do so only in the hearing of his friends, 
who can forgive his vanity, or of his acquaintance, 
who will not suspect him of an attempt to deceive 
them, or to assert what they have not the means of 
gainsaying. Paul was a man of earnestness ; he was 
also a man of humility. When the vaunts of false apos- 
tles had provoked him to speak of himself, he added : 
" I forbear lest any man should think of me above 
that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of 
me." It is often easier to rise superior to the calum- 
nies of an enemy, than to prove ourselves equal to 
our own boastings. A popularity based on self-praise 
is little short of infamy. 

The fanatic always dishonors himself as well as the 
cause he desires to serve. Yet it is a wise and mer- 
ciful provision of the Creator, that, as soon as a man 
falls into a meddlesome and blustering phrenzy, he 
begins to rivet his own shackles ; the world no longer 
confides in his judgment, but abandons him to his 
own projects and to obscurity. The captious and the 
over-righteous commonly expose their own sins by the 
means they use to magnify the sins of others. 

True zeal is sometimes warmly engaged about little 
things ; never about trifles. Small and subordinate 
truths are constantly gliding into unmerited neglect. 
While great truths never want defenders, these often 
implore an advocate in vain. The smallest verity the 
all-wise God has deigned to reveal to man, occupies 
a place in the great system of Truth which no other can 
supply. Things apparently trivial come to be inex- 
pressibly great when we reflect that the divine honor 
is afi*ected by them ; just as a point of etiquette as- 



100 ZEAL. 

sumes vast consequence from the dignity of the 
prince who has ordained it for the regulation of his 
court. Lesser principles, like all other things, are to 
be regarded as trifles only when they usurp the place 
of greater ones. 

Some professors seem to have stricken zeal from 
their catalogue of the virtues. Having witnessed 
abuses of it, they conclude it has no place in an ami- 
able and well-proportioned character. Although a 
want of zeal renders a Christian more companionable 
to unbelievers, it makes him a loathing to God and a 
curse to the church. The soul subsiding into that 
genteel lukewarmness, so favorable to spiritual sleep, 
dreams of a competence of self-acquired virtues, and 
of being clad in a nuptial robe of its own workman- 
ship, when in fact it is reposing in beggarly poverty 
and nakedness, and needs to be roused by the apoca- 
lyptic call : " repent and be zealous." 

The apostle Paul, himself a bright example of this 
virtue," as he is of every other, has said, " that it is 
good to be zealously afiected always in a good thing." 
Zeal is a virtue only when it is engaged about " a 
good thing." "Whether the excitement of this feel- 
ing be beneficent, must depend on the motive and 
the efi'ect. An equal zeal may inspire "the voice 
of them that sing," " the cry for being overcome," 
and "the voice of them that shout for mastery :" but 

1* " A gentleman" of rare refinement and fashionable experience, 
though clearly no friend to evangelical religion, has with noble frank- 
ness expressed his admiration of the gentility of Paul: " The charac- 
ter of St. Paul affords to bishops, priests, and deacons, as fine a pat- 
tern of manners as it does to all men, of ardor ; his courtly bearing 
has often commanded respect where his arguments have failed to 
convert."— TAe Laws of Etiquette. 



ZEAL. 101 

he who heaves the sigh of penitence, or sings the 
hymn of praise, is quite another zealot than was the 
idolatrous Israelite who abandoned himself to feast- 
ing, dancing, and song. Zeal should not only have 
a benevolent aim, but it should also be a principle 
constantly acting. It should animate us at all times 
and in all places ; " always in a good thing." We 
should not, it is true, discover our religious ardor al- 
ways in the same manner, but without lessening our 
devotion to God, and our engagedness in the cause 
of the Gospel ; ever employed in the labor of love, 
we should, at the same time, demean ourselves suit- 
ably to persons, places, times, and circumstances. 
It is more pardonable, however, to err on the side 
of too warm a zeal, than on that of too cold a deco- 
rum ; since the latter betrays a want of piety, while 
the former discovers only a lack of judgment. Con- 
sistent Christians, of the pure and primitive order, 
are often most unjustly accused of fanaticism. Shall 
people of the world be suffered to disclose their mas- 
ter-passions in every company, by day and by night, 
and on all occasions, and shall the receiver of a price- 
less gift never speak of his divine Benefactor ? Shall 
he who is rescued from perdition show no tokens of 
gratitude to his Redeemer — give no evidence of his 
love to Him ? Let the Christian in all circles and 
conditions, manifest a meek and sober earnestness ; 
not such as exhausts itself in one frantic act — the 
rather such as distributes its fervor among all the 
faculties of the soul, and warms with its celestial fire 
all the public and private conduct. 

The Christian of pure zeal is known by his cor- 
diality and frankness. He is not precise, formal, ever 



102 ZEAL. 

recollecting the lessons of the dancing-master. As he 
is not bound with the chains of fashionable etiquette, 
he does not break them. He enjoys the freedom of a 
benevolent soul, and walks in an Eden sunshine. 

Such hearty and transparent manners are repulsive 
to those who make a virtue of lifeless. indifference, 
and a chill insensibility. They are arrayed against 
that school of politeness, w4iich holds that a masked 
countenance, a slow^ pace, and idle hands are requisites 
of a gentleman. Nevertheless these gentlemen are 
ardent at the gaming-table, vehement at the theatre, 
inpetuous on the race-course, sanguine at the duel. 
Zealous as they are in all scenes of fashionable cruel- 
ty and vice, they would not hesitate to pronounce 
John the Baptist an unconrtly zealot, because he 
rebuked Herod for incest. But the sacred harbinger 
was more a courtier^^ for his fidelity than Herod was 
a king for imprisoning him, and than Herodias'was 
a queen for instigating her daughter to request his 
decapitation and to exhibit to lords and ladies his 
gory head in a dish. 

So far from being prejudicial to gentleness, true 
zeal sheds a celestial lustre upon it, and graces it 

'5 Castiglione, though he lived near the confines of the dark ages, 
had a truer notion of the attributes of a courtier and of a gentleman, 
than some who flourish in our own enlightened times. He says the 
courtier ought, when there is any occasion for it, to make his prince 
virtuous, and by not suffering him to be deceived, and by acquainting 
him of the truth of everything, to screen him from flatterers, detrac- 
tors, and all those who seek to corrupt his mind by unlawful pleasures. 
. . . al Cortegiano bastera esser tale, che se'l Principe n'havesse 
bisogno, potesse farlo virtuoso : , . . et di non lasciarlo igannare et di 
far che sempre sappia la verita d'ogni cosa ; et d'opporsi a gli adulo- 
tori a maledici et a tutti colore che machinassero di corromper I'ani- 
mo di quello con dishonest! piaceri. — 11 Cortegiano, Libro IV. 



ZEAL. 103 

with a divine accomplisliment. It is the crowning 
propriety of a being who is sensible of what he owes 
to his Redeemer, compassionates the woes of man- 
kind and knows the remedy for them, l^othing is 
more decent than an ardent desire to benefit a wret- 
ched world ; that is the truest delicacy which seeks 
man's immortal bliss ; there is no more graceful act 
of courtesy than that of snatching a fellow-man from 
the ya^vning flames of the infernal abyss. IS'or do 
we want examples uniting a holy fervency with a 
sweet mildness of sj^irit. After the sacred patterns 
so often mentioned in these pages, some of modern 
times might be named, as the Countess of Hunting- 
ton, Hannah More, and Anne Hasseltine Judson, 
Fenelon, Count Zinzendorf, William Wilberforce, and 
many others not inferior to them in this respect. In 
the character of these we behold zeal and gentleness 
most agreeably blended, and each as excellent as 
when it is found aj)art in other persons. 



PART II. 

THE FORMS OF COURTESY IN RELIGIOUS SOCIETY. 



We begin the treatment of the manifestations of Courtesy, with 
those which relate to religious intercourse, because they ought to be 
our first, though they are generally made our last concern. Very 
many who pass for well-bred in general society, either cannot or will 
not behave with decorum in the meeting-places of Christians. The 
reader will pardon us for occasionally addressing him in the percep- 
tive style which we have adopted for the sake of brevity and direct- 
ness. 



j;# 



CHAPTER I. 



It is not our purpose to treat of order in general, 
or of its observance in our daily duties, though this 
is important, but of order in religious assemblies, 
where a disregard of it is fraught with very serious 
evils. And this is the more demanded because there 
is a growing neglect of it even among those who have 
hitherto been the most tenacious of it, and have in 
part j)rovided for its maintenance by rubrics and 
other formularies. " Our pious ancestors," complains 
Dean Comber, " may make our devotions blush when 
we see them all the time of prayer in jprocinotu^ with 
their knees bended, their hands uplifted, and their 
eyes fixed on their minister. If ever this devotion is 
to be restored in the church it must be by the people 
zealously and conscientiously joining in the ejacula- 
tions allotted to them." What would the Dean have 
said had he lived at this day, and in this country ? 
He might have found plenty of arguments to convince 
his brethren, that it is quite time to begin to make 
order a matter of conscience. And those who are 
not to be recalled to duty by witnessing the sad effects 
of disorder, ought at least to feel some respect for the 
Divine command, and consider that they are no more 



108 ORDEE. 

at liberty to neglect the apostolic injunction of order 
than they are to neglect any other. 

The members of some sects have thrown off all 
regulations of order in worship, on the plea of keep- 
ing clear of formalism, not considering that habitual 
disorder is formality of the most hurtful kind. There 
are many congregations that are tumultuous on 
system, and set at naught regularity by rule. They 
confuse all proper mode and arrangement as scrupu- 
lously as if their salvation depended on such a pro- 
cedure, and as if they would not worship God aright 
were they to perpetrate a single propriety. When a 
congregation comes to be notorious for incessant 
disorder, to attach a value to it, and to take great 
pains to practise it, they certainly deserve to be 
ranked among formalists of no low degree. 

On the other hand, the forms usually prescribed by 
canons and rubrics are not safeguards against disor- 
der. Formularies are designed to embody directions 
as to decorous worship, not to forbid what is foreign 
to such worship, and consequently they do not reach 
the multiform cases of irregularity. Let not, there- 
fore, those churches which have settled their forms 
of worship, think themselves secure against disturb- 
ance, and to be in no need of vigilance in this 
direction ; for while some attention to forms is 
requisite to order, it should ever be borne in mind 
that a scrupulous obedience to conventional regula- 
tions may consist with a great neglect of order. 

Some religious persons, being much annoyed in 
their public worship by frolicsome young people, 
(perhaps by their own ill-bred and ill-ruled children,) 
comfort themselves with the thought that it is their 



ORDER. 109 

godliness which provokes the persecutions they suffer. 
In some instances undoubtedly this is the real cause 
of disorder in religious meetings, but unless the wor- 
shippers themselves preserve strict order, they can- 
not safely refer the disorders of others to their own 
piety. In truth, it is scarce possible in many cases, 
to determine the measure of godliness in an assembly 
of such professors, it being so obscured or hid by 
the prevailing confusion ; it would have required 
more than the golden reed of the apocalyptic angel 
to take the area of paradise while the materials of 
which it was formed, were yet boiling in dark and 
shapeless chaos. And what renders the calculation 
the more difficult, is that on such occasions, the 
leaven of hypocrisy easily insinuates itself into the 
mass of real piety ; since many are able to perform 
the most audacious feats in religious dissimulation 
and mockery when they have a license to rave, who 
have not the hardihood of conscience to pretend to 
any religion in a sober manner, and before a thought- 
ful and tranquil assembly. 

St. Paul was certainly a man of respectable piety. 
Yet neither his biographer nor his writings convey 
any intimation of his having been a lover of irregu- 
larity. Although he had a wonderful religious ex- 
perience he was not a fanatic, and the single occasion 
when he could not affirn whether he was in the body 
or out of it, was when he was caught up to the third 
heaven. There is no record of his ever having been 
so entranced with the glories of another world, as to 
forget the decorums of this. In his sublimest flights 
of prayer and meditation, he no more took leave of 
his understanding, than he did when exercising the 



110 ORDER. 

handicraft of tent-making ; and liis great mind could 
treat with equal ability of the proprieties of dress 
and the mysteries of redemption. In his portrait of 
Charity, we are led to see that she does not behave 
herself unseemly before we are allowed to discover 
that she is immortal; and he suspends from it a 
scroll thrice its length, devoted to the enforcement 
of certain decorums of conduct in religious assemblies. 
This he concludes with that command so constant 
and specific in its application : " Let all things be 
done decently and in order." He was sensible 
that the features of charity can display all their 
charms only when they are suj^ported by a record 
of the deeds she can perform, and that the world 
is slow to confess there is anything heavenly in the 
aspect of one whom they suspect of violating heav- 
en's first law. 

It is a great error to suppose that where the Spirit 
of the Lord is there must be disorder. The divine 
Spirit brooded over chaos, but His presence, so far 
from increasing the confusion of the elements, only 
served to subdue and regulate them. If He were the 
artificer of disorder, deformity and darkness, surely 
He never would have attemj)ted to adorn the skies 
with the effulgent and harmonious spheres. During 
the " Pentecostal seasons," with which our times are 
blessed, it would be difficult to hear the rushing of a 
mighty wind, or to hear any man speak in the tongue 
" wherein he was born." Kow the presence of the 
Holy Ghost seems not to be indicated, as in the dis- 
pensation of miracles by flames of fire, but by shouts, 
groans, sighs, and faintings. At the day of Pentecost 
the meeting was one of great solemnity. The Gall- 



ORDER. Ill 

lean brethren must have been penetrated with holy 
fear at witnessing the miraculous exhibitions of that 
occasion, and at finding their tongues giving ut- 
terance to strange languages. The multitude were 
astonished and confounded when they beheld these 
illiterate men suddenly coming to be masters of the 
languages of all nations. They were all amazed and 
said to one another : " We do hear them speak in our 
tongues the wonderful works of God ! What mean- 
eth this ?" We read of no uproar in this vast assem- 
blage. On the contrary, when they heard the word 
they were pricked in their hearts and inquired of the 
apostles, saying : " What shall we do ?" There were 
deep searchings of hearts that day ; then, doubtless, 
might have been seen the silent and half-concealed 
tear of many a penitent, eyes lighting up with heav- 
enly hopes, and countenances kindling with joy un- 
speakable. The feelings which possessed the hearts 
of the converts could not have been favorable to a 
tumult. We are told that '^ fear came upon every 
soul." But religious fear does not, like common ter- 
ror, discover itself in bodily excitement and noise. 
In a religious awakening, unusual silence, quiet and 
sobriety, mark the most successful contests of the 
Holy Spirit, and the most glorious triumph of truth 
over the soul. At such times, saint and sinner are 
awed into stillness, as if by the solemnity of their 
own thoughts. 'Now they are frequently engaged in 
secret and ejaculatory prayer, and when they are in 
a public congregation, they seem to themselves to 
be in an undisturbed solitude, so greatly are their 
minds occupied with the Saviour, and their relation 
to Him. It is as the mourning^of Hadadrimmon in 



112 ORDER. 

the valley of Megiddon ; they all mourn apart. It 
may be objected that such is only the behavior of 
highly cultivated persons who are taught to suppress 
and conceal their feelings. Brainerd witnessed the 
same conduct among the untutored sons of the wil- 
derness. 

Those who suffer more than one to speak at a time 
in their religious meetings, offend both against the 
divine law of order, and the express commands of 
God. St. Paul would have the Corinthian brethren 
speak with tongues by course, and prophesy one by 
one. He also says that if they had the si^irits of 
prophets they would be able to keej) them under due 
control ; that feelings which could not be confined to 
the limits of order and reason, were to be regarded 
with distrust. And he enforces this injunction by a 
declaration which ought forever to silence those who 
maintain that noise and animal excitement always 
necessarily accomj^any the operations of the Divine 
Spirit : " God is not the author of confusion, but of 
peace, as in all the churches of the saints." And 
not content with sending to them written directions 
for the preservation of propriety and regularity in 
their congregations, he adds : " The rest will I set in 
order when I come." 

During the great revivals in New England, in the 
days of Jonathan Edwards, the pastors of some 
churches, in consequence of the large crowds they 
addressed, thought it necessary to adopt some new 
regulations for their congregations. These were 
looked upon by certain of their flocks as unwar- 
rantable innovations, " carnal ceremonies, and dead 
forms." Even at this day, there are congrega- 



OKDEK. 113 

tions so obstinately attached to tlieir own awkward 
methods of worship, that the most judicious and 
courteous efforts of their pastors and brethren, to 
reform their bad usages, have been worse than vain. 
These brethren will have it that they are conscien- 
tious in adhering to their old ways, but while they 
would avoid a conformity to what they hold to 
be a mere external religion, they ought to consider 
that confirmed habits of indecorum and disorder 
are commonly associated with some defect of con- 
science. It is nothing, in their esteem, to incommode 
their brethren all their days, and render the house 
of God forbidding to the world, when, by a little 
cheap attention, they might render divine worship 
comfortable to themselves, and tolerable to others. 
Such persons are apt to be bigoted and deluded in 
matters of vital concern. They arc commonly those 
who must be allowed to go to heaven in their own 
way. When Mahomet, on one occasion, was going 
to pay a visit to Paradise, it is said he was invited 
to make his own choice, from a variety of suitable 
vehicles, to carry him through the skies, such as 
winged horses, fiery chariots, and celestial sedans ; 
but he refused them all, and would be borne to 
heaven upon nothing but his favorite ass. 

A disorderly congregation spends the hours allot- 
ted to worship with little honor to God and advan- 
tage to themselves. Confusion, disarrangement, and 
indecorum indispose the mind for the exercises of 
devotion. Uncouth and restless deportment distract 
and confuses the mind. With such an assembly few 
are wont to associate ideas of holy fear and reveren- 
tial worship. We do not realize the awful presence 



114 ORDER. 

of the Eternal Sj^irit, nor taste antepasts and j)reli- 
bations of the celestial rest. How different the in- 
fluence which pervades the solemn assembly where 
a reverential order is observed — an order equally 
devoid of affected carelessness and fastidious exact- 
ness ; where no act diverts the mind from prayer, 
and praise, and truth ; where all is lulled to quiet, 
as if by the notes of some seraphic song. 

The oj)inion of the unbelieving world is not to be 
entirely disregarded in this matter. They are not 
without some notions of propriety, even with respect 
to the institutions of religion. Few of them are so 
lost to reason as to suj^pose disorder appropriate to 
God's house. Even those who are guilty of produ- 
cing it, condemn their own conduct when they are 
left to their more s< ber thoughts. It is a dehorta- 
tion addressed to all professors : " Let not your good 
be evil spoken of." Disorder, being a mark of 
insanity, those professors, who are addicted to it in 
their devotional exercises, expose themselves to the 
imputation of mental derangement. And some 
think the charge not at all to their discredit. St. 
Paul, however, did not like to have any one entertain 
such an opinion of him, and j)aused in the midst of 
one of his most eloquent speeches to deny the charge 
of madness. And his own inspired writings show 
that he regarded it a thing of some consequence for 
Christians to preserve the reputation of sober and 
reasonable men : " If the Church be come together in 
one place, and all speak with tongues, and there 
come in those that are unlearned or unbelievers, will 
they not say that ye are mad ?" 

If order were in request in this world alone, and 



ORDER. 115 

of no use in the heavenly assemblies, we might, per- 
haps, dispense with its obligations without ultimate 
disadvantage to ourselves. But are the observances 
of harmonious intercourse to be dispensed with in 
the eternal palaces, and the pm'e pleasure of court- 
esy, of which disorder must forever be destructive, 
unknown among angelic beings ? The dying conso- 
lation of the great Hooker was, that he was going to 
a world of order, and if the descrij)tion of heaven, 
which heaven's own Builder has gi^en us, are to be 
credited, or if anything can be gathered from the 
deportment of those of its shining inhabitants who 
have visited our sphere, surely there is no neglect of 
order there. 



CHAPTER II. 

DEPORTMENT AT CHURCH. 

Both due regard for order, and the courteous feel- 
ings treated of in the First Part, bid us be attentive 
to our conduct in the house of God. If these be in 
us, and abound, they will lead us to observe most of 
the following usages : 

When you approach the doors of a church refrain 
from conversation, and uncover the head as soon as 
you enter the aisle, advancing with a quiet and 
moderate step. On the one hand, avoid walking as 
though you were in a funeral procession ; and on the 
other, as though you were walking for a wager. 
You should not go to your pew during any exercise 
of devotion. Some do not scruple to hurry along 
the aisle while the congregation is engaged in 
prayer, or to march to the time of sacred song, dis- 
turbing its harmonies with their noisy feet. Always 
take the shortest way to your pew, unless this re- 
quires you to walk the entire length of the middle 
aisle, when it is proper to take a side aisle, though 
you should thereby be compelled to go farther in 
reaching your pew. If you are accompanying a 
lady to church, permit her to go before, and open 
doors ; if accompanying her out^ go before and open 



DEPORTMENT AT CHURCH. 117 

doors. If the lady is your superior^ both in coming 
in and going out you open the door of the house and 
that of the pew, allowing her to go before you, and 
following at her left hand. In opening a door for 
her, avoid, if possible, passing between her and it, 
and turning your back toward her. Observe the 
same rule with a gentleman who is your superior. 
This rule is especially observed by servants, and, on 
occasions of ceremony, by others. 

It is proper for you, as well as the sexton, to offer 
your arm to any aged or infirm lady of your ac- 
quaintance who may be entering the church unat- 
tended, and to accom]3any her to her pew. 

If you are under the disagreeable necessity of 
passing a person who is sitting or standing in a slip, 
present to him neither your back nor your breast, but 
your side ; the narrowness of the passage is scarcely 
an apology for a violation of this dictate of propriety. 
If a gentleman is seated in a slip, he should arise, 
open the door, and pass out, when a lady presents 
herself for admission, which she ought to do by sim- 
ply touching the top of the door, without an efibrt to 
open it, or exhibiting any uneasiness ; for this would 
sometimes be interpreted as a rebuke for the tardi- 
ness of the occupant, who would perhaps at such a 
hint, stumble out to relieve her impatience, or resent- 
fully remain in his seat, and allow the comer to help 
herself to one. None but a lame or decrepit gentle- 
man should suffer a lady to open the door of a slip 
and seat herself next to it, or to crowd past him to 
the other end of the seat. 

Make as little noise as possible in opening and 
shutting the pew door. Enter and retire from a pew 



118 DEPORTMENT AT CHURCH. 

deliberately. ISTever j)lace your hat in the aisle, if 
there is room for it in the pew. 

Always be seated in your pew before the hour of 
worship. "With a view to this, be dressed an hour or 
two before the bell rings. Even put on your gloves 
before going into the street. The want of a few min- 
utes just previous to church-time, occasions blunders 
and accidents which discompose the mind, and dis- 
turb Divine worship. 

When you happen to be in your seat some time 
before service, abstain from bows, shaking hands, 
congratulating, talking, whispering, or gazing cu- 
riously or vacantly round the room, but sit quietly, 
and occupy your mind with subjects suitable to the 
place. A silent ejaculation should be offered as soon 
as you take your seat. If you are a gentleman, and 
a lady, or your superior, or a feeble person is stand- 
ing in a crowded aisle, rise and offer such an one 
your seat. 

AYhen the hour of service arrives, give your entire 
attention to the introductory part of the worship. Do 
not accustom yourself to wriggling, or seeking an easy 
posture at the moment the service begins. If a per- 
son in your pew, or in one near you, has no book, 
offer him one of yours ; if it is a lady, the book 
should be presented open at the proper place. In 
summer, if a person near you has no fan, offer him 
yours. Turn over the leaves of your book, and re- 
turn it to the book-rack without noise. When you 
assume the various postures the service requires, do 
it deliberately, without any rustling, starting, or 
flourishing. If you have gilded and embellished 
books, do not make a display of them. If you have 



DEPORTMENT IN CHURCH. 119 

a pretty hand, or a costly ring on your finger, do not 
rest your arm along the back of the seat in order to 
exhibit it. If you carry a cane to church, do not sit 
kissing it, or passing it along your lips and chin. 
Canes and umbrellas should be left at a stand near 
the door. Never open a book, except for reference 
to a text. Do not pull out your watch during ser- 
vice, as if you were some Doeg, " detained before 
the Lord." Do not accustom yourself to stare at 
others, to ogle, or to look behind you. Significant 
glances of the eye ought not to be exchanged in a 
congregation, or in any public place, neither those 
signs of free-masonry and odd-fellowshijD by which 
intimates convey to each other their ideas. 

ISTever yawn in church : if this accident befalls 
you, conceal it, else everybody will follow your 
example. JV'hen you are going to sneeze, press 
your handkerchief into the inner corners of your 
eyes, or upon the upper lip ; either is a preven- 
tive. 

After blowing your nose, do not look into your 
handkerchief as if you were looking into a casket of 
pearls or rubies. Do not imitate the dandy, who 
fumbles gracefully about his pocket for his handker- 
chief which obtrudes from it, and after fiaunting it, 
applies it to his dry nose : sacred herald, silence, and 
all ye creatures that have ears, hear 

" The loud dome re-echo to his nose." 

To chew tobacco in church is profanation ; to show 
any signs of the practice to the worshippers, is perse- 
cution. Under the Christian dispensation, beasts that 
chew the cud are not held to be ceremonially clean. 



120 DEPORTMENT IN CHURCH. 

Do not show uneasiness and weariness, or change 
your seat without good reason. If you go out during 
service, do not rise in an animated part of the ser- 
mon, as when the preacher is making the applica- 
tion, or when he is alluding to denominational opin- 
ions. You should seize that moment to arise when 
there is a pause in the sermon, or when the preacher 
has concluded a part of the subject. Go out coolly 
and gravely. Ladies should not leave the house in 
the evening, unattended. Those who have very 
young children with them ought to sit near the door, 
so that they may leave the house as soon as they be- 
gin to cry. 

Kever leave the house when you ascertain that 
your favorite is not to preach. To say nothing of 
higher motives, an occasional disappointment is the 
price you ought to be willing to pay for.i;he pleasure 
of hearing him, and you cannot better show your re- 
gard for him, than by listening to his friend. Be- 
sides, it is a miserable compliment to pay a stranger, 
to run out of doors as soon as he appears in the pul- 
pit. 

"When you see a stranger coming up the aisle, throw 
open your pew to him. It is also courteous for you 
to do so when the sexton brings a person to your pew. 
In churches that attract many strangers, a number 
of pews should be reserved for them in the most com- 
modious part of the house. If on entering your pew 
you find a stranger in it, ask him to remain if he 
betrays any uneasiness ; and although your j^ew 
should be full without him, seek a seat elsewhere 
rather than disturb him. To bow him out as some 
do, is very uncivil and selfish. " Have you not mis- 



DEPORTMENT IN CHURCH. 121 

taken the pew, sir ?" blandly said a Sunday exquisite, 
as with emphatic gracefulness he opened the door. 
"I beg your pardon, sir," replied the undaunted 
stranger, rising to go out, " I fear I have ; I took it 
for a Christian's." The stranger should thank you 
for the favor of a seat ; and you, in return, should 
invite him to sit with you whenever he comes to 
your place of worshij). 

Unless conscience or expediency forbid, you should 
conform to the ceremonies of the congregation in 
which you are worshipping ; standing when they 
stand ; bowing when they bow ; and kneeling when 
they kneel. 

Each member of the Protestant Episcopal Church 
and Church of England has a part assigned him 
in the rubric, and he cannot consistently refuse to 
perform it. Especially should he see to it, that his 
responses be not omitted ; that they be audible ; and 
that they be made in the appropriate tone. 

To omit them where the rubric requires them, is to 
mutilate the service, and, in many cases, to destroy 
its meaning and frustrate its design. Take for exam- 
ple the celebrated hymn, called the " Te Deum ;" 
for the congregation to pass by in silence the passa- 
ges which they ought to utter, is to hide more than 
half its beauties, if not to smother it to death. Yet 
in this country these responses are often withheld ; 
and in England it is, not seldom, thought sufficient 
that the clerk, instead of the congregation, respond 
to the minister. Again, if the minister says, " O 
Lord, open thou our lips," they do not respond, 
" and our mouth shall shew forth thy praise ;" or 
when he says, " O Lord, make clean our hearts with- 
F 



122 DEPOETMENT IN CHURCH. 

in US," they refuse to respond, " and take not thy 
Holy Spii'it from us," they break the connection of 
related Scriptures, and make void some of the most 
edifying j)C>i'tions of Divine revelation. 

And these responses should be distinctly audi- 
ble. If they are not, they had better not be made 
at all ; for then the great discrej)ancy between 
what the voice is, and what it ought to be, would not 
be apparent ; and the mind would be left to form a 
just notion of the utterance which would befit the 
sentiment. Take for example the ninety-first psalm, 
the first in the service. It begins thus, " Oh come, 
let us sing unto the Lord, let us heartily rejoice in 
the God of our salvation ;" to which the people should 
respond, "Let us come before his presence with 
thanksgiving, and show ourselves glad in him with 
psalms." This response, it is hardly necessary to 
say, cannot be properly made by mumbling, whis- 
pering, or a quivering of the lips. 

Finally, the congregation should speak in a tone 
consonant with the several offices and the various sen- 
timents they contain. When the minister exhorts the 
congregation to accompany him with " an humble 
voice" in saying the general confession, it is meant 
that they should speak in a low tone in this part of 
the service, and not that the subdued voice which is 
in harmony with penitential sorrow should be main- 
tained through all the offices of the liturgy. Such 
monotony as is heard in many congregations is both 
a cause and an effect of formality. 

"We will here add some pertinent remarks from the 
elegant pen of W. Eoberts, Esq., whose " Portraiture 
of a Christian Gentleman" treats this branch of the 



DEPORTMENT IN CHUKCH. 123 

subject more fully than oiir space will allow us to do. 
" As our liturgy," lie observes, "is so framed as to 
call imperiously upon the people to give audible ut- 
terance to their part of the service, so does it call 
upon the minister to give time for the congregation 
to finish what the rubric has apj)ointed to be answered 
or repeated by them before he proceeds with the ser- 
vice. It is scarcely consistent mth the decorum of 
good manners, much less with the dignity and effica- 
cy of our forms of worship, so to tread upon the heels 
of those who are endeavoring to repeat according to 
the rubric, as to force them to sacrifice a moiety of 
what they had to say, or hurry to the conclusion." 

When you partake of the sacramental supper, lay 
aside your book, gloves, or whatever you may hold 
in your hand. If the ordinance is observed at an 
altar, approach it with a slow and reverential step. 
Do not try to get a place to the exclusion of others. 
On such an occasion, as well as at a funeral, ladies 
may cover themselves with a veil half drawn. 

"When the benediction is pronounced you should 
rise facing the clergyman. It is improper to take up 
your cloak, hat, or cane, to pull on a glove, or to open a 
pew door during this part of the service. Never be- 
gin to retire till the benediction is fairly pronounced ; 
even then be not in haste to leave church. 

In going out, if a lady accompanies you, ofier to 
carry her book if she has any in her hand ; go before 
to clear the way for her; and when ^ necessary, hold 
the door open while she is passing out. In going 
along the aisle carefully avoid touching others. In 
an innumerable multitude of courteous persons, you 
would never witness the slightest crowding, unless it 



124 DEPORTMENT IN CHURCH. 

should be impossible for tliem to find sufficient ground 
whereon to stand in all the wide world. ]S'ever put 
on jour hat for the sake of preserving it from the 
press, or for the sake of anything else. Keep it off 
till you reach the door ; this mark of reverence is due 
to the house of God — not to those who are accustomed 
to crowd then- way out of it. 

Avoid talking in the vestibule or in the street after 
service. If you have anything very important to 
say to a person, do not stop him, but go along with 
him till you have done speaking. When leaving 
church on ordinary occasions, you should salute only 
those you may meet in going into the street. When 
it rains, and you have an umbrella, remember to 
share it with one who has none. 

If you are in the habit of sleeping in church take 
no breakfast : if this fails of curing the disease, take 
no dinner. Sometimes a walk before church is bene- 
ficial, especially to a man of business. But nothing 
is so sure a remedy as the cultivation of an active and 
daily piety. 'No man sleeps when engaged in an oc- 
cupation that is interesting to him. 

The man of fashion keeps aU his engagements. He 
goes to a baU or an assembly when it is dark, stormy, 
and cold, lest he cause disappointment. The Chris- 
tian should be equally zealous from better motives, 
and in a better cause. Jehovah as much deserves to 
be worshipped when he reveals his power and majes- 
ty in the storm, as when he displays his benevolence 
and handiwork in the sunlit landscape. 



CHAPTER m. 

POSTURE IN PEAYEE. 

Christians belonging to cliurclies wliicli have pre- 
scribed by their rubrics the postures to be assumed in 
various parts of worship, ought, for the sake of pro- 
priety and order, to maintain inviolably those pos- 
tures. 

The members of those churches which follow no 
established rules, should, in their several congrega- 
tions, decide to observe some uniform posture. And 
as some churches prefer to conform to ancient and 
scriptural usage, it may not be inexpedient to exam- 
ine primitive examples. 

1. Public congregations comj^osed of believers and 
unbelievers were unknown among the Hebrews pre- 
viously to the building of the synagogue. Their con- 
gregations consisted of Jews and proselytes alone, 
assembled commonly in an open space, and unpro- 
vided with seats. During prayer they sometimes 
used standing and sometimes prostration. When 
Aaron and his sons were about to offer the sacrifice, 
in answer to which the glory of the Lord appeared to 
Israel, " all the congregation drew near and stood 
before the Lord," but when the people saw fire come 
out from before the Lord, and consume the offering, 



126 POSTURE IN PRAYER. 

"they fell upon their faces."^^ The same postures 
were assumed on a like occasion, at the dedication 
of the temple.^' On occasions of humiliation the con- 
gregation prostrated themselves before the Lord ;^^ 
on those of praise, thanksgiving, and benediction 
they stood .19 In the ninety-fifth Psalm, composed dur- 
ing the Babylonish captivity, when the Hebrews 
probably worshipped in private dwellings, we find 
the following words : " O come, let us worship and 
how doiv?i ; let its kneel before the Lord our Maker.'- 

In the days of our Lord, the Jews seem to have stood 
while they prayed in the temple and synagogues. 2° 
Our Lord exemplified and approved this attitude. 
He ai^pears to have stood while praying amidst a 
concourse of Jews at the grave of Lazarus, also while 
he was making the intercessory prayer as recorded 
in the tenth chapter of John. In his direction to 
his disciples with respect to prayer he said : " When 
ye stand praying," etc. The multitudes that were 
accustomed to listen to his teaching, seem not to have 
been habituated to sitting during his prayers, else it 
would not have been necessary for him to " command 
the people to sit down on the ground," when he was 
about to bless the food of which they were to partake. 

The posture of standing was, at this period, ob- 
served by those praying in the temple, in compliance 
with ancient traditions. These required the worship- 
per to stand as a servant before his master, with all 
reverence and fear ; however weary he might be with 
standing he might not sit down : no person whatever 

16 Lev. 9 ch. 17 2 Chron. 6 & 7 ch. 

13 Ex. 12 : 27. 2 Chron. 7 . 3, and 18 : 29, and 29 : 30 ; Neh. 8 : 6. 

19 2 Chron. 6 : 3, and 7 : 6. Neh. 8:6. 20 Luke 18 : 13. Matt. 6 : 4. 



POSTURE IN PRAYER 127 

being allowed that privilege, except the kings of the 
house of David. 

With respect to the posture in public congrega- 
tional prayer used in Apostolic times, we have no in 
stance, unkss this passage in 1 Cor. 14 : 25, is to bo 
regarded as one : " Falling down on his face he wi 1 
worship God." 

The Christians of the second centmy universal'/ 
stood during congregational prayer, as appears from 
the unanimous testimony of Justin Martyr, Clement 
of Alexandria, and Tertullian. 

From this brief review of the ancient usages in 
public worshijD, we arrive at no other conclusion than 
that a variety of postures was practised, as kneeling, 
prostration and standing, and that none of these ever 
received the divine disapprobation. It is not a mat- 
ter either of positive or of moral precept, but one of 
expediency. Yet, while a congregation is not bound 
to adopt one posture more than another, we may not 
hence infer that every congregation is not required 
to maintain some one uniform posture : for with re- 
spect to public worship we have this authoritative in- 
junction ; " Let all things be done decently and 
in order." These are both positive and moral re- 
quirements. And since uniformity and method are 
necessary to order in a public assembly, the use of 
different postures, by different members of the same 
congregation, is a violation of order. In those reli- 
gious assemblies where no rule is followed with re- 
spect to postures, there is generally something worse 
than disorder. For some to kneel, others to sit loll- 
ing over the backs of seats, some to sit erect, others 
to stand facing different ways, and others again to 



128 POSTUKE IN PRAYER. 

stand with one foot on the seats, with their elbows on 
their knees, is absolutely indecent and ridiculous. 
Not to assume some common attitude in congrega- 
tional prayer is to neglect order and decorum — duties 
which the nature of things and common sense teach 
every individual to observe in his secular affairs, and 
God expressly requires him to regard in the sacred 
assembly. 

But in determining the one posture to be used, we 
may not adopt that of sitting. Among the diverse 
attitudes practised by public worshippers in olden 
times we do not find this. David is said to have 
" sat before the Lord" on one occasion of family 
prayer, (1 Chron. 17 : 16 ;). That none but his house- 
hold, including the prophet IS^athan, were present, is 
proved from Chap. 16 : 43. Sitting is not at all exj)res- 
sive of the feelings appropriate to the suppliant. In 
making their requests to their superiors, men stand, 
they bow the knee, they prostrate themselves ; but in 
no age, and no nation, has sitting ever been regarded 
as the proper posture of a petitioner. And if we do 
not think it becoming so to present a memorial before 
any earthly authority, can we deem it proper so to 
plead for mercy in the presence of the King of kings ? 
Sitting is the posture of power, of ease, of indif- 
ference, of infirmity. But do those who assume it 
mean to show to their Omnipotent Lord and Maker 
their might and authority, their sufiiciency and se- 
curity, their insensibility and lukewarmness ? What- 
ever they may intend to show by this posture, one 
thing they do most clearly confess ; they openly de- 
clare themselves to be spiritual invalids. 

2. In prayer-7neetings composed of professors alone, 



POSTURE IN PEAYEE. 129 

kneeling is tlie attitude recommended by the example 
of primitive Christians. When the elders of the 
Church at Ephesus were about to take leave of St. Paul 
at Miletus, " lie kneeled doion and prayed with them 
all." And when, during the same voyage, he was 
going to re-embark at Tyre, he, his pious compan- 
ions, and the Christians residing in the city, who 
went with them to the ship, kneeled down on the 
shore and prayed. This posture is, and ever has 
been regarded the most proper expression of rev- 
erence, humility, contrition and subjection. 

3. In jprwate lyrayer the Scriptures furnish ex- 
amples of a variety of attitudes. When Abraham 
prayed he fell on his face. In the same act Elijah 
bowed down on the summit of Carmel with his face 
between his knees. Daniel prayed in his chamber 
kneeling, and Hezekiah lying on his bed. When our 
incarnate Redeemer prayed in the garden of Geth- 
semane, it appears, from a comparison of the narra- 
tives of Matthew and Luke, that he first kneeled 
down, but as his prayer became more importunate, 
and his agony more violent, he fell on his face. 

4. Of the posture anciently used \\). family jprayer^ 
the Scriptures afford no other instance than that of 
David, cited above. It is only around the family al- 
tar that all Anglo-Saxon Christians assume the same 
attitude. The German Christians sit during family 
prayer. They — Tholuck among them — have expressed 
themselves annoyed at the kneeling at British family 
worship. 

Irregularity of attitude in congregations and pray- 
er-meetings can only be reformed by the unanimous 
co-operation of church-members. Wherever it ex- 



130 POSTURE IX PRAYER. 

ists they sliould meet, and with feelings of deference, 
forbearance and kindness, interchange their views of 
the sacred word, of j)ropriety and expediency on the 
subject, or else agree to submit the whole question to 
the decision of their pastor or some other person. The 
minority should cheerfully submit to the decision of 
the majority, and aid in its execution. By perse- 
vering use the Chm-ch will bring the congregation to 
follow their example, who, when they have once 
discovered the beauties of order, will imite with the 
Church in preserving them. 



CHAPTER lY. 

POSTURE OF A CONGEEGATION DURING THE SESTGING 
OF A CHOIR. 

For a congregation to sit while the choir is singing 
or while they are themselves singing, must be re- 
garded a violation of Christian propriety as well as 
an innovation upon ancient usage. 

Most well-regulated congregations having adopted 
standing as the proper posture during this part of 
divine service, there is only one question concerning 
which they differ; that is, whether a congregation 
ought to face the choir during its performances. In 
the parlor and the drawing-room, we turn our faces 
towards those whom we reverence and respect ; 
propriety seldom allowing us to sit with our backs 
towards such persons, in such places. But we do 
not observe this rule in a public assembly. Here 
we may, with entii-e propriety, sit with our faces 
turned away from our superiors. 'No one scruples to 
sit with his back towards a choir while it is not 
singing. Why then should we face it while it is 
singing ? "When in the act of singing, does it deserve 
more respect than when it is silent ? 

It is true we face those addressing us ; the congre- 
gation look at the preacher who is discoursing to 



132 POSTUEE OF A CONGREGATION' 

them. But is it the duty of a choir to preach to us ? 
We are indeed directed to " teach and admonish one 
another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, 
singing with grace in our hearts to the Lord." Yet 
Christians may teach and admonish one another, with- 
out appointing a choir to teach and admonish them 
— a choir, perhaps, composed wholly or in great part, 
of unbelievers. Let it be allowed, as in truth it 
ought to be, that singers may teach betimes, it must 
also be admitted that the prime design of singing in a 
religious assembly, is to worship God. The injunc- 
tion quoted, directs us to sing to the Lord. We have 
the example of our Lord for teaching in prayer, but he 
prayed to God looking up towards heaven. Instruc- 
tion is not the object either of prayer or singing. 
The principal design of sacred song is confession, 
supplication, adoration and praise to God. The 
choir should address Him, and, therefore, the con- 
gregation ought not to assume the attitude of 
auditors, but that of co- worshippers with the choir. 

The mind cannot be fully engaged in the worship 
of God, while it is contemplating external objects. 
There cannot be a due abstraction of soul, if we are 
required to eye the choir at the same time that we 
ought to be making melody in our hearts unto the 
Lord. During the singing, we should not allow our 
eyes to rest on any object except the book before us. 

The members of a choir are not in a state of mind 
favorable to Divine praise, while conscious of being 
made a spectacle to an entire congregation. The 
minds of some pious singers may not be disturbed by 
such an exhibition of themselves. The mass, how- 
ever, of humble and devout singers do not covet the 



DURING THE SINGING OF A CHOIR. 133 

public eye while rendering to Jehovah the heart's 
pure offering of praise. 

The congregation and the choir should stand facing 
in the same direction. "When both do not assume the 
same posture, they detract from the order of the 
service, and the effect of the music. Every one must 
have observed how much more grand and imposing is 
the sight of a well-drilled regiment than that of a con- 
fused and motley crowd. The sensation made by the 
former might be termed the 2:>leasure of method ; that 
of the latter the disgust of confusion. So in a worship- 
ping assembly, how much more pleasing and eleva- 
ting to the mind is order, than irregularity. If they 
face different ways, or if one part of the assembly be 
detached from the other, the unity and power of the 
impression is diminished. Hence the choir should 
stand on the same floor with the congregation, and 
separated from it by the least possible interval. To 
a serious mind there is something jDrofitable in the 
thought, to say nothing of the sight, of being one 
among a great praising congregation made still greater 
by the reinforcement of a choir, and all standing on 
the same or nearly the same ground. Such an arrange- 
ment of the choir, though it discovers more the smaller 
defects of the singing than when it is executed at a 
greater distance, yet when it comes from the soul, 
greatly adds to its general effect. It may not be 
more admired, but it will be more felt. The effect 
of music is the most powerful when executed on a 
level with the position of the audience. When the 
melodies of sacred song roll horizontally from ear to 
ear, and heart to heart, 



134 POSTURE DURING SINGING. 

" Untwisting all the chains that tie 
The hidden soul of harmony," 

un tun able indeed must be the spirit that does not 
share the common rapture. 

This usage of facing a singing choir, probably 
originated iu.the regulations of oratorios and concerts, 
where the audience are expected to face the per- 
fonners who are exhibiting their skill, without pre- 
tending to sing Jehovah's praise. These musical 
shows and entertainments have already sadly cor- 
rupted the primitive majesty and simplicity of 
Christian psalmody, and in their place have served 
to introduce into choirs, theatric artifice and display. 
Were choirs to occupy a more sequestered place, or 
were longer screens or curtains drawn before them, 
they would be less tempted to j)ractise those airs and 
attitudes which some deride, and others lothe. 

Let every Christian congregation cease to regard 
its choir as a public show, and themselves mere 
auditors and spectators. Let choirs on their part, 
shew their humility by retiring from the gaze of the 
congregation, consider that the less they are seen, 
the better will they be heard, and make such other 
reforms as shall assist to excommunicate from the 
church every shred of the theatre. 



CHAPTER Y. 

THE GENEEAL DEPOETMEI^T OF A CONGREGATION" 
DTTEING SINGING. 

Many improprieties have grown out of the common 
agreement, that congregations are to praise God by 
proxy ; that to the choir alone belongs the duty of 
engaging in this part of public worship. Those who 
have not the faculty of siDging, ought indeed to 
withhold the tribute of the voice, but they are not 
discharged from presenting the offering of the soul, 
and " making melody in their hearts to the Lord ;" 
nor are they released from the observance of the de- 
cencies due to God's house and to this part of the 
service. We do not, however, purpose here to en- 
force the duty of congregational singing, but simply 
to touch upon a few indecorums which are often com- 
mitted by ministers and congregations in connection 
with singing. 

1. Dm'ing this part of divine service, the minister 
should, as far as his other duties and his knowledge 
of music will permit, either join in singing or engage 
in silent praise, instead of turning over the leaves of 
his Bible, prayer-book, hymn-book, reading his notes, 
receiving notices, giving directions to the sexton, or 
conferring with the elders or deacons. 



136 THE GENERAL DEPORTMENT OF A 

2. The minister should be on his guard against 
giving out so many stanzas as to fatigue the singers 
and to exhaust the patience of tuneless listeners, or 
so few as to render musical expression impracticable. 
Nor should he give out more than two hymns of the 
same metre during one service: but should vary the 
metres as much as the nature of the service or the 
subject of his discourse will permit. 

3. When he gives out a hymn or announces sing- 
ing, he should not say : " The congregation will now 
have the pleasure of listening to Xh^ ]}erformance of 
a piece of music hy the choir P " The audience will 
now be entertained with singing hy the choir .^"^ " Will 
the choir please treat the assembly with a song of 
praise." He should invariably give out the number 
of the hymn, and so announce the singing that the 
congregation will understand that they have a part 
to bear in this service. 

4. lie ought not to call for a sacred song or a 
voluntary, on purpose to drown noise or hush turbu- 
lence, or merely to save time or amuse an audience, 
while contribution-boxes, subscription-papers, or pro- 
grammes are circulating, or while the members are 
taking their seats for the celebration of the eucharist. 

5. When it is the custom of the minister to read a 
hymn, he should not at any time dispense with it; 
especially at the beginning of the services. Such a 
freak is apt to take the choir and congregation by 
surprise, and throw them into consternation. The 
same caution holds of giving out a hymn at an un- 
usual time. 

6. He should beware of making any motion or sign 
which indicates to the congregation that the song is 



CONGREGATION DURING SINGING. 187 

ended before it is so. "Who lias not seen a mistake 
of this kind on the part of the minister or some hearer, 
disconcert the singers, and throw a whole congrega- 
tion into awkward postm-es. 

7. The sexton should not offer to show strangers 
their pews during this service, and though he cannot 
keep those who have pews of their own from going 
out and in when they please, yet when he chances 
to be entering an aisle when a hymn is starting, or 
being sung, he should reverently stop till singing is 
ended, and thus by his example teach others to 
"keep then- foot when they go to the house of God." 
He should not at this time open and shut doors, 
blinds, or ventilators, renew fires or regulate lights. 
With a view to his convenience, as well as that of 
the congregation, the minister ought not to hurry 
from one part of the service to another, but allow a 
short interval between them. 

8. The congregation should take this opportunity 
to lay down or take up books, or, if need be, to leave 
the house, or change seats, and never do such things 
at a time when they ought to be giving their whole 
attention to the service. 

9. Persons in the congregation should not smile or 
whisper to each other when anything unusual is seen 
or heard in the choir, or for any other cause during 
any part of the worshij). 

10. They should neither take their seats nor stand 
with wriggling or restive movements, nor leave the 
house during a song of praise. 

11. Each person ought to hold his hymn-book in 
his hand, unless he can sing the stanzas memoriter^ 



138 DEPORTMEXT DURING SINGING. 

and not to sit or stand in idleness, or with a vacant 
or wandering eye. 

These are some of the many faulty habits and ac- 
tions of which professors of music, and choristers or 
precentors continually complain. In order to a 
thorough reform in these matters, worshippers have 
only to consider their relation to the choir, their duty 
as to singing, and to notice what is proper and what 
is not proper in their deportment. Few intend to be- 
have untowardly in the house of God. Most people 
are betrayed into such indecorums by not heeding the 
words of Paul, who exhorts us to "think on these 
things." 



CHAPTEE YI. 

THE DEPOETMENT OF CHOIRS. 

Each member of a choir is ex]30sed to tlie scrutiny 
of a whole congregation, more especially when he is 
placed in the gallery and faced by the auditory. 
However retired the choir may be, the singer will, 
from various causes, attract more than ordinary at- 
tention. Hence the importance of liis forming agree- 
able manners and habits. 

1. Members of choirs should not stop at the door, 
near staircases, or lounge in galleries until the be- 
ginning of the service, but go directly to their places, 
and sit without conversation till the hour of worsliip 
arrives. 

2. Make no noise in getting the books and turning 
over the leaves. Always procure, and open the book 
at the proper place before the choir rises. Do not 
hem and hawk either before or during the singing. 
Do not hum or whistle the tune to be sung. When 
about to sing all the members should rise together, 
and with as little noise as possible. Do not sit in the 
choir during singing, unless you are so indisposed as 
not to be able to stand. 

3. That a choir keep time is important certainly. 
But to this end it is not necessary that the chorister, 



HO THE DEPORTMENT OF CHOIRS. 

by shaking his head, beating with his hands, stamp- 
ing his feet, transform himself into a clock with wheels 
clicking, j)endulum swinging, hammer striking, all 
going. When the choir needs to be furnished with 
an accurate division of time, the leader alone should 
provide it, the others avoiding all motions of the head, 
hands and feet. 

4. Do not make a display of your voice, or attempt 
to convince the congregation that you are the best 
singer in the choir, by always allowing your voice to 
be heard far above that of others. Always sing to 
the end the part which you begin, and never change 
from one j^art to another. When professing to sing 
the praises of the Most High do not commit the sin 
of self-glorification. 

5. Organists and other musicians should not allow 
the sounds of the instruments to overjDOwer the human 
voice, but make them subservient to it. 

6. While singing do not show your acquaintance 
in the congregation that you recognize them by nod- 
ding, or winking at them. Do not cast your eyes 
about the room, or lift them very devoutly towards 
heaven ; let them rest on your book. When a mis- 
j;ake is committed by others, or by yourself, do not 
simper or cast your eyes about the choir as if search- 
ing for the offender. 

7. When singing, shun gaping, grimace, and every 
singularity, also an affectation of ease and careless- 
ness. Let your feelings and behavior correspond with 
the sentiment and the air. In general let your coun- 
tenance discover the devoutness and serenity of your 
mind, and let your postures be dignified and modest. 

8. Do not resume your seat or close your book till 



THE DEPORTMENT OF CHOIRS. 141 

the last sound has died away, but maintain the same 
posture till the music has ceased. The choir should 
take their seats simultaneously and without noise. 

9. After singing close your books, and return them 
to their place without noise or ostentation. Do not 
lounge in your seat inattentive to the rest of the ser- 
vice, as if you came to church only to sing. Do not 
suffer yourself to fall asleej) ; snoring is the most un- 
tunable sound in nature. 

10. It is a great impropriety for an organist to be 
playing a voluntary when the horn' of the service has 
arrived ; also for a choir to sing a voluntary either at 
the beginning or close of the service without the con- 
sent or direction of the officiating clergyman. 

11. During the sermon do not change your place 
or leave the choir, or whisper or look over books. 
Do not remain after service for conversation, or to 
gaze at the retiring congregation. On the other hand, 
do not hurry impatiently or noisily out of the choir. 
" Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God." 



CHAPTEE YII. 

THE DEPORTMENT AT PEAYEE-MEETINGS. 

The prayer-meeting should be regulated by many 
of the rules which the good order of a more public 
congregation requires us to observe. To the hints 
contained in Chapter III., we add the following. 

When you go late to a ]3rayer-meeting, do not enter 
the room during any exercises of devotion, but seize 
the oj^portunity afforded by an interval, to go softly 
to your seat. If the services are not begun when 
you enter the room, do not join a group of talkers, 
but go directly to yoiu- place, and by secret ejacula- 
tion and meditation, prepare your mind for the servi- 
ces of the meeting. If a clergyman is present when 
it is your turn to introduce the services, courtesy re- 
quires you to ask him to take your place. The por- 
tion of Scripture read should be short and appropriate. 
When each hymn is a voluntary, the members should 
avoid singing often, or much at one time. If exhor- 
tations are delivered, let them be short, pointed, and 
animated. Aged j)eople should not extend their 
prayers and exhortations to an unreasonable length. 
They should consider that brevity is not only the soul 
of wit, but of wisdom also. 

Uniformity in the subjects of prayer should be 



DEPORTMENT AT PRAYER-MEETINGS. 148 

avoided. You are in danger of praying exclusively 
for the churcli of which you are a member, or of con- 
fining your requests to the interests of one sect or one 
section. In missionary concerts pray for missions ; 
let yom- ]3i*ayers always be appropriate to the occa- 
sion. 

]S"othing is more out of place in a prayer-meeting 
than a discussion. If a brother advances an opinion 
you do not deem orthodox, converse w^th him ajDart on 
the subject at some other time. To take up and mag- 
nify an unguarded expression d-ropt in a prayer-meet- 
ing is indicative of a worldly and contentious spirit. 
We do not assemble round a common mercy-seat as 
disagreeing controvertists, but as united suppliants. 
Above all things, do not deny an assertion another 
has made in prayer, or i^ray for things from which 
another has prayed to be delivered. If you do not 
like your brother's prayer, privately and courteously 
make known to him your exceptions to it ; or what 
is commonly better, silently dismiss your dislikes. 

When the attendance is small or late, do not com- 
plain, but pray for absent members with a charity 
that " hopeth all things and thinketh no evil." Let 
those who habitually neglect the prayer-meeting, or 
rarely go to it, consider that in their absence their 
empty places are always haunted with evil sugges- 
tions to the great annoyance of regular comers. 

In order to secure a large attendance, punctuality 
and brevity should be engraven in letters of gold 
over the door of every room sacred to social prayer. 
Long intervals between prayers, or between singing 
and praying, should not be tolerated. Each moment 
should be profitably employed. But there will not 



144 DEPORTMENT AT PRAYER-MEETINGS. 

be punctuality unless there be brevity ; for when the 
prayers and exhortations are long, the brethren be- 
come too drowsy and weary to be prompt. 

Our minds do not measure duration either while 
they are deeply interested or are given up to listless- 
ness. Hence, the most fervent on the one hand and the 
most formal on the other, are liable to disregard time. 
Houses of prayer should be furnished with clocks 
which strike every five minutes. In general a prayer- 
meeting should continue one horn-, and he who leads 
the devotion should dismiss it when the time is ex- 
pired. The Puritan preachers used an hour-glass to 
admonish them of time ; and Butler, alluding to it, 
teaches in doggerel a practical truth. 

" Gifted brethren preaching by 
A carnal hour-glass, do imply 
Illumination can convey 
Into them v:hat they have to say, 
But not ?ww muchJ' 

Therefore be very attentive to the length of your 
prayers. By brevity you will avoid repetition. The 
Pharisees who were guilty of making long prayers, 
were also guilty of vain repetitions. In your closet 
make as long prayers as you please, but in a prayer- 
meeting let them be shorter than you desire. What- 
ever blessings long social prayers may ever have ob- 
tained, they never yet procured the blessing of a pros- 
perous prayer-meeting. 



CHAPTER Yin. 

MAKEIAGE CEREMONIES. 

The nuptials of Christians ought never to be cele- 
brated with needless parade or lavish expenditure. 
It becomes saints to disapprove those sumptuous 
feasts and giddy festivities which are the too common 
accomj)animents of these ceremonies. The cheerful- 
ness, so proper on such occasions, should be tempered 
with dignity and sobriety. Somewhat of that holy 
elevation of heart which St. Paul recommends to the 
Corinthian converts, becomes the Christian on every 
occasion : "It remaineth that both they that have 
wives be as though they had none ; and they that 
weep as though they wept not ; and they that buy as 
though they possessed not; and they that use this 
world, as not abusing it." 

If a marriage is to be solemnized in a church, it 
ought not to be on the Sabbath ; much less at the be- 
ginning or close of public worship. Other thoughts 
than those usually suggested by such a scene should 
occupy our minds on this hallowed day. The gayety 
and festivity which the ceremony causes on such oc- 
casions, and which are usually thought becoming at 
weddings, are not consonant with the solemnity of 
divine worship. Let those clergymen who so cheer- 
G 



146 MAKRIAGE CEREMONIES. 

fully consent to officiate at these ceremonies on the 
Lord's day before a worshipping congregation, weigh 
in the balances of the sanctuary the ill effects of such 
a scene on^ the mass of the audience. We do not 
say, that as Christian ministers, they are bound in 
all such cases to refuse to celebrate the rite. Samuel 
disapproved Israel's making a king at all; but if 
Israel would hare the king, Samuel thought it his 
duty to anoint him. 

"When the marriage is solemnized in a church, the 
usual order of the ceremonies is the following. If 
the parties go to church in more than one carriage, 
the lady, her relatives, and the bridemaid go in one 
carriage, the gentleman, his relatives, and the bride- 
man in another. Acquaintance invited to the wed- 
ding repair to the church at the appointed hour, the 
friends of the gentleman being seated on the right, 
and those of the lady on the left of the middle aisle. 
They should always leave the front slips or jdcws to 
the parties. The marriage train advances towards the 
altar in the following order : the lady gives her hand 
to her father, or to one who represents him, then fol- 
low the gentleman and his mother, or one who rep- 
resents her, next the bridemaid and brideman, fol- 
lowed by the members of the two families in couples. 
The other and more common custom is for the groom 
to receive the bride when she alights from her carriage 
in the street. As the train advances towards the altar, 
the company present should respectfully arise from 
their seats and stand till the relations are seated in the 
front pews. The latter should arrange themselves in 
the same order as acquaintance. The couple either 
stand or kneel at the altar, according to the custom 



MAREIAGE CEREMONIES. 147 

of the chiircli in which they are married ; the bride- 
maid at the left of the ladj, and the brideman at the 
right of the gentleman. The bridegroom stands or 
kneels at the right of the bride, and bears her right 
hand upon his. Here the ceremonies vary according 
to the usages of different denominations. After the 
benediction or the ^Drayer, as the order is, the married 
couple usually salute the assembly and receive the 
compliments of their friends. Immediately after the 
solemnization it is customary for the parents and 
new relations to salute the married lady ; but all 
salutations are imj^roper in a church edifice. When 
returning from church the husband gives his hand 
to his wife. 

At the reception which usually takes place the 
same day or evening, at home, those invited should 
bring their cards, and hand them to the servant at 
the door. This saves him the trouble of noting 
down their names. The number of bridemen and 
bridemaids varies from one to six. On occasions of 
great ceremony there are present two " maids in at- 
tendance," whose place is in the rear of the bride and 
the bridegroom. At the close of the service the or- 
ganist sometimes plays a tune appropriate to the oc- 
casion. 

The rites of marriage are often modified to suit the 
taste and convenience of the parties, especially when 
performed at residences. 

A newly-married couple should, if practicable, 
avoid appearing in company at church or other public , 
places soon after the nuptials. For the first two or 
three weeks they should go to church as they did 
previously to marriage, with their former attendants 



148 MARKIAGE CEREMONIES. 

and in their usual dress. After the wedding the 
nuj)tial attire should be laid aside, at least such parts 
of it as want simplicity and plainness, and no more 
be worn on any public occasion. 

The close companionship of husband and wife in 
general society is forbidden by fashion, as a plea 
against jealousy and uxoriousness. But we do not 
think it advisable that they should live on such 
terms of connubial estrangement, as to give separate 
parties, make separate engagements, or form ac- 
quaintance that are not mutual. Such practices are 
of unhappy moral tendency. It may, at th'e same 
time, be proper for husband and wife, when they are 
at a party, not to seat themselves beside each other, 
not to engage in domestic talk, not to speak often of 
each other, and not to serve each other at the table 
of another. Though some married peoj^le err in the 
opposite extreme, others indulge such an excessive 
fondness for each other, and for their children, as 
narrows their souls and blights the sentiments of 
humanity. 



OHAPTEE IX. 

FUNERALS AND MOUKNING. 

If it be true, as a great moralist has observed, that 
few men die without affectation, it is quite as true 
that few men are buried without it. Man finds his 
account in dissembling, not only to the living whose 
good opinion he would propitiate, but also over the 
unconscious remains of the dead, that he may keep 
up a reputation for sensibility and friendship among 
the living. Far back in antiquity women mourned 
for hire, and even the Hebrews, who ought to have 
been honest in their sorrows, we find wailing by the 
day, even by the month, and assisting their lamen- 
tation by the melody of the flute. Such was their 
practice in the age of our Lord, and though he must 
have found repeated opportunity to correct it, he left 
it, as he did some other social abuses, to be gradu- 
ally done away by the progress of the truth. 

The frantic and protracted wailing in which both 
the Hebrews and the heathens were wont to indulge 
on such occasions is, perhaps, to be partly accounted 
for by the fact that they had no prevalent and well- 
defined faith in the resurrection of the body and the 
immortality of the soul. It is probable that the gen- 
erality of the Jews themselves had no clear views of 



150 FUNERALS AND MOURNING. 

the future state, none at best that could be said to 
amount to knowledge, and that they looked upon 
death as little, if anything other than annihilation. 
It is not strange, therefore, that they should have 
given themselves up to heart-rending cries, and used 
the most exaggerated methods of expressing their 
sense of the irreparable calamity that had overtaken 
them. But now that " our Saviour hath brought life 
and immortality to light through the Gospel," and 
the generality give a kind of credence to the revela- 
tion, it is time these gloomy and overstrained rites 
were superseded by such as are agreeable to the se- 
renity and simplicity of our religion. It is time Chris- 
tianity, in her progresses through this superstitious 
world, had sj)oken a language, in some sort, like 
that of her great Author, when he said to the min- 
strels and other mourners who were making a great 
noise in the house of Jairus : " Give j)lace, why 
make ye this ado and weep ? The maid is not dead 
but sleepeth." 

While, however, the Gosj)el would dissuade us 
from abandoning ourselves to extreme transports of 
grief, and the observance of extravagant rites on the 
occasion of the decease of our friends, it is not to be 
understood to condemn all weej)ing for our own 
losses by death, or from sympathy with others in 
their bereavements. We are directed to " weep with 
them that weep." When our Lord stood by the 
tomb of his friend, his humanity dissolved into a 
flood of tears, though he must have been conscious 
of his power to call him back from corruption. It 
must be conceded, however, that though our knowl- 
edge of a future state is clearer and better grounded 



FUNERALS AND MOURNING. 151 

than was that of the ancients, we have not greatly 
the advantage of them in this — that we must in some 
cases feel painful doubts as to the welfare of the de- 
parted soul, and these doubts must more or less em- 
bitter the cup of our grief. 

There should be nothing in mourning but what is 
natural and spontaneous. It is equal dissimulation 
to conceal the sorrow we feel, and to feign the sor- 
row we cannot feel. Besides, what is more absurd 
than weeping by rule, and wearing mourning accord- 
ing to a fashion. "Were men left to themselves in 
such matters, the expressions of their grief would be 
less proportional to their relation to the deceased, 
than to their sensibility, education, physical constitu- 
tion, and piety. Woman weeps more easily than 
man, and the child more easily than the woman. 
Profound sorrow does not always vent itself in tears, 
or any other sign of woe, and it would in general be 
as fallacious to judge what are the feelings of honest 
people upon the decease of their friends by their de- 
meanor at funerals, as by the costume they wear on 
these occasions. 

The custom of indicating grief by attire probably 
had its origin in the neglect of personal appearance, 
which great sorrow naturally induces. Afterwards, 
the putting on of garments of some uniform color 
appears to have been thought to denote a disregard 
of fashion and reputation, and the being overwhelmed ^ 
with affliction. " Full mourning" alone is strictly or 
abstractly proper. " Half-mourning" is a solecism, 
both in word and idea. As to the kind of color, that 
depends on the custom of the race : and were we 
divested of all prejudice, we would be at a loss to 



152 FUNEEALS AND MOURNING. 

determine between black^— that adopted by the Euro- 
pean, and white, the mourning-color of the Chijaese 
— the former being a destitution of all color, and the 
latter a composition of all the colors. Unmixed col- 
ors must ever be more becoming than those that are 
mixed ; the latter being generally employed to ex- 
press gayety, to set off beauty, or to give some ex- 
pression to the general costume by way of contrast 
or variety. Everj^thing, as to aj)parel, which implies 
care and study in the wearer, must be improper. 
Yet fashion has so far departed from nature that 
peojDle never more anxiously inquire " wherewithal 
they shall be clothed," than at the very time when 
they ought to be least concerned about such matters. 
Thus does fashion not only dissipate salutarj^ sorrow, 
but feed vanity — a vice, the indulgence of which is 
of all others, the most unfavorable to meditation on 
death. 

Many are justly principled against mourning at- 
tire and great pomp and ceremony at funerals, as 
encouraging prodigality in those who have need to 
study the strictest economy, or who might devote 
their abundance to more deserving objects. Some 
poor people, who think it a capital crime to be out 
of fashion, expend their last piece of silver in their 
parting offices to the dead, and even ask alms, that 
they may pay costly honors to the memory, perhaps, 
of a departed infant. Fewer of the rich would study 
magnificence in their obsequies, could they count the 
numbers that are brought to want by following their 
example, particularly during the prevalence of epi- 
demics. Against the attendance of great numbers 
of those who would otherwise be usefully employed, 



FUNERALS AND MOURNINGI. 153 

no sound objection can be brought. Laborers, no 
less than busy idlers, and the poor, no less than the 
rich, may very profitably pause to contemplate the 
chasms death makes in their ranks. 

Such are our own views. But as we do not sup- 
pose everybody will come over to our opinion — not 
very soon, at least — we will venture to add some 
hints as to funerals and mourning, for the accommo- 
dation of those who may feel it to be duty to humor 
the 23rejudices, and conform to the customs of their 
fellow-men. 

When a member of our family has died, we should 
immediately give intelligence of the event to the ab- 
sent relations and friends of the deceased. The let- 
ter announcing the death may contain an invitation to 
assist at the funeral. Cards of invitation to a funeral 
are most used in cities. In many villages and neigh- 
borhoods it is expected that all the friends and ac- 
quaintance of the deceased will go to the funeral 
without receiving a wi'itten invitation. Do not ap- 
point any part of the Sabbath as the time for a funeral. 

At the hour specified, we repair to the house of the 
deceased, and follow the body as far as the church. 
If the deceased was our relation or friend, or if he 
was poor, a stranger, or friendless, we should accom- 
pany his remains to the grave, and it is proper to do 
so in all other cases. The ladies should stand at a 
considerable distance from the grave or vault when 
the procession is large. 

The usual order of a common funeral procession is 
the following : 1st, the sexton ; 2d, the clergyman ; 
3d, the body attended by four or more pall-bearers. 
When the body is borne in a herse, the pall-bearers 



154 FUNERALS AND MOURNING. 

go in two carnages, either on the right and left of the 
hearse, or where this is inconvenient, before it ; 4th, 
mourners ; 5th, the physician ; 6th, friends ; Tth, ser- 
vants. When the military or any society is present, 
it moves at the head of the procession. 

The funerals of ^^ersons of distinction are more im- 
posing, and the order of procession too complex to be 
specified in this work. 

At the service and at the interment, the male rela- 
tions go first, and then those invited. The female 
relations next ; then follow other ladies. The march 
of the procession should noio be more slow and quiet 
than when it passed along the street. During the 
service at the burial, gentlemen should uncover their 
heads, and in every part of the obsequies we should 
be mute. 

The chief use of mourning attire is to express our 
grief and humiliation, and to remind us of our be- 
reavement on those occasions, when w^e are liable to 
be gay and thoughtless. It is also a caution to 
others, not to converse on light or mirthful topics in 
our presence ; yet we should not speak of death to 
one who wears a weed. 

Full mourning is worn for a father, mother, grand- 
father, grandmother, husband, wife, brother, or sister. 
Ilalf-mourning is worn for uncles, aunts, cousins, 
very intimate friends and acquaintance. 

It is not customary, except from necessity, for any 
but half-mourning friends to go to the shops and 
select articles of mourning, or to procure them made. 

During a month after the funeral, the female rela- 
tives of the deceased never leave home, unless to go 
to church, or to transact important business. They 



FUNERALS AND MOURNING. 155 

do not visit or dine from home for six weeks after 
tlie fmieral. 

It is not customary for ladies in full or even half- 
mourning to wear jewelry, curls, or perfumes. They 
ought also to avoid appearing in a strictly fashion- 
able costume. 

It has been customary for a widow to wear mourn- 
ing for her husband a year and six weeks, and a wid- 
ower only six months ; but present usage leaves the 
period of wearing black to be determined by the 
feelings and tastes of the mourners themselves. 
When persons are married at a time when the 
former and preferable rule requires the wearing 
of mourning — which is always an impropriety — they 
should lay it aside on the day previous to the wed- 
ding, and never resume it more. It does not be- 
come widows or widowers to bedeck themselves 
with as much brilliancy at their second nuptials as 
they did at their first. In making visits of condo- 
lence we should talk but little, and in a low, serious 
tone, never inquiring about the health of persons in 
mourning. ISTone but grave topics should be intro- 
duced during such a visit. If our friends speak in 
high terms of the character or conduct of our -de- 
ceased relation, we may assent to what they say, but 
may add nothing to their eulogiums. To praise our 
relations is but to praise ourselves. We should speak 
of the cause of sorrow only when the bereaved is 
dwelling on it. Such visits should be brief, and 
should be made dm'ing the week following the fune- 
ral. 

Friends of the deceased, living at a distance, 
should send letters of condolence to the nearest rela- 



156 FUNEKALS AND MOURNINa 

tions of the deceased. JS'or can the latter be ex- 
cused from answering them, unless they have given 
some account of the sickness and death of the de- 
ceased in previous letters, when an immediate reply 
ought not to be expected. 

During the mourning of our friends, we should 
not pay them a visit of ceremony. We should 
not, at least, for six weeks after the funeral, nor 
ought we to expect a visit from them during the 
same time. The bereaved are not however excused 
from regarding the common rites of hospitality, 
although the stay of their guests should, on account 
of their mourning, be as brief as possible. JS^or may 
they refuse to see- those calling on them for the pur- 
pose of transacting business. 



CHAPTEE X. 

ECCENTRICITIES. 

Christianity has never been greatly honored by 
the eccentricities of her votaries. Heathen priests 
have always used incantations and singularities of 
voice and mien in order to clothe their impostures 
with the appearance of divine mystery. Knowing 
that their systems could never satisfy reason and so- 
briety, they have made them objects of curiosity and 
wonder. But shall she who is of heavenly extraction 
and sent to earth on a mission of mercy, shall she, by 
whimsical practices, obscure her high origin and be- 
come a harlequin. Her compassion, sincerity, and 
meekness derive no additional charms from wit and 
drollery. The tragedy of the Royal Sufferer bleed- 
ing on a vulgar cross, while the penalties of a world's 
guilt press ponderously u^Don his forsaken soul, needs 
no buffoonery to complete the effect, no comic epi- 
sodes to make it melt the heart to pity, penitence, 
and love. 

The opinion has too widely obtained, that a natural 
singularity of manner, by giving novelty to familiar 
and unsavory truths, recommends them to those who 
would otherwise have rejected them. But in those 
religious meetings where levity is indulged, solemn 



158 ECCENTRICITIES. 

impressions are usually few and superficial. It some- 
times happens indeed, that those who repaired to the 
house of God to make merry with the oddities of the 
worshi]323ers, have been there reproved for their lev- 
ity, have shed tears of contrition and received a good 
hope : 

" As he who seeking asses found a kingdom." 

But how many more might have profited by those 
sermons, exhortations and j^rayers, had they been 
marked by pious sobriety — many whose hearts have 
been hardened into fixed irreverence, by being taught 
to trifle amid the awful solemnities of the sanctuary. 
Sir Walter Scott has somewhere said, that it deserves 
serious consideration whether, were we to teach re- 
ligion in the way of sport, our pupils may not thereby 
be gradually induced to make sport of their religion. 
Professors of eccentric habits also provoke the lev- 
ity of their brethren, and by exciting their disgust, 
drive them to a conformity with a less sj)iritual but 
more polite world. Such, it is probable, was their 
influence upon the conduct of Swift, whose lothing 
of religious afiectation is discoverable in every part 
of his writings, and led him to be careless of preserv- 
ing the reputation of piety. It was an aversion to 
the ostentatious religion of some persons that induced 
him to offer family prayer in a garret for fear of 
being detected in the act of devotion. "With num- 
bers it has been more an object of solitude to avoid 
being branded with the epithets of puritanical and 
fanatical, on account of the singularities of some who 
have borne these epithets, than to acquire the virtues 
for which they were equally distinguished. So that 



ECCENTRICITIES. 169 

many who have fled the example of om- pious fore- 
fathers for fear of copying their micouth manners, 
have also departed from the integrity and holiness 
of their principles. 

Such improprieties not only injm'e others, but they 
also recoil upon the offender himself. One can hardly 
be singular without being sensible that he is so ; and 
this impression mingling with his devotional feelings, 
eventually destroj's their seriousness and extinguishes 
their fervor. The memory does not revert with i:>leas- 
ure to deeds how noble soever in their design, which 
are marked by impropriety in their execution ; much 
less, as is often the case, when it was committed for 
the sake of self-display. If in discharging the offices 
of religion, he is conscious of having gone beyond 
reason, he will recall those offices with mortification, 
and return to them with diminished satisfaction. 

Oddity is natural to some j)ersons, frequently ad- 
hering to their manners after conversion, crippling 
their religious exertions and marring the symmetry 
of their Christian character. A natural singularity, 
however, is pardonable where its possessor is striving 
to overcome it.^^ But there is an affectation of sin- 
gularity w^hich is inconsistent with sincerity and hu- 
mility. A feigned pretension to an excellence is not 

^^ The pious but whimsical John Berridge used jocularly to say, 
that he was born with a foolscap on. But in a reply to a letter from 
Mr. John Thornton, in which the latter reproves him for the use of a 
queer and vulgar metaphor in public prayer, he says : " Late fur- 
naces have singed the bonnet of my cap, but the crown still abides 
on my head ; and I must confess the crown so abides in whole or in 
part, for want of a closer walk with God and nearer communion with 
him. When I creep near the throne, the humor disappears, or is so 
tempered as not to be distasteful" 



160 ECCENTRICITIES. 

SO blamable as an affectation of a fault. The former 
evinces an admiration of good, the latter an attach- 
ment to evil. Besides, most persons have so many 
faults to overcome, that they can ill afford to pretend 
to such as they do not possess. 

He who is powerfully influenced by divine love, 
may be blind to the frigid calculations of selfish men, 
he may lay projects of benevolence, which to a cold 
and earthly mind shall seem altogether visionary, and 
his reason soar to such unwonted heights, that to grov- 
elling minds it shall appear no longer reason. The 
Pharisees said of the holy Jesus : '* He hath a devil." 
Felix said to Paul, "Thou art beside thyself;" and 
many regarded Howard as insane. But shall we rank 
among these great beings, those who are chiefly dis- 
tinguished for wit, comicalness, and noise ? It will 
at once be seen that the insanity of the latter differs 
in its cause and symptoms from that of the former. 
The singularity of the one is the result of piety, that 
of the other is only a substitute for it. 

Let Christians consider that their great model of 
moral beauty affords no such blemishes for their 
imitation, and even his keen-eyed enemies could not 
detect in him any eccentricity of conduct. Try to 
imagine Immanuel w^ith whimsical airs and uncouth 
manners, mixing witicisms and conceits with all his 
conversations, prayers, and sermons. It it impossible. 
1^0 one associates such qualities with his ideas of a 
perfect being. Were we able to discern the faintest 
shade of the fantastical on that divine pattern, how 
would it deform its subduing beauty, how degrade its 
ineffable dignity, how becloud its celestial resplen- 
dence. If such thin^js are so foreisrn from our 



ECCENTKICITIES. 161 

faultless example, they must also be unwortliy of 
those who profess to be his imitators. 

While it is true that Christians have in general 
been most persecuted, when they have most closely 
copied theii' great pattern, it is equally true that 
they have sometimes been scom-ged for their faults. 
Their virtues have often kindled the fagot, but their 
blemishes have occasionally awaked doubts, and 
provoked derision. It was the singularities and in- 
consistencies of the Puritans in the reign of Charles 
the Second, and previously to his reign, that j)rovoked 
Butler to caricature them in his Hudibras, and 
moved Dryden to represent them as hyj)0crites, 
rogues and dullards. It was the fanaticism of the 
Cameronians that supplied follies for the pen of 
Scott. It was the unguarded speeches and outre 
actions of the pious in the days of the illustrious 
Wesley and Whitefield that occasioned the scurrili- 
ties of the comedian Foote, Bishop Lavington, Yicar 
Polwhele and others of their kind. It has been the 
ignorant zeal of some of every denomination in 
Europe and America that has long furnished themes 
for the wit of the drawing-room, the club dinner, and 
the tippling house. And such, to this day, is the 
prevalence, among some sects, of uncouth customs 
(too regularly followed to be called eccentricities,) 
such as ludicrous antics, untimely exclamations, and 
affected sighs, that if a person utterly ignorant of the 
Christian religion, were to judge of its nature by 
observing the manners of some of its j)rofessors, he 
would conclude that in order to be esteemed a 
Christian a man must needs tarn clown or madman. 
It is in this way that people of the world are led to 



162 ECCENTRICITIES. 

regard piety as only another name for fanaticisnij and 
fix upon Christianity a stigma not her own ; they 
come at length to suppose that Godliness is some- 
thing ridiculous in itself, and consequently mere 
hypocrisy, since the popular mind readily concludes 
that to be untrue which has the appearance of 
absurdity. " This is a lamentation, and shall be for 
a lamentation." 

These eccentricities are incitements to mirth, and, 
as such, appear less pardonable in the view of 
worldly men, from the opinion which prevails 
among them that sadness, remorse, fear, and other 
painful feelings are alone becoming the Christian, 
and of a piece with his forbidding faith. It were 
easy, indeed, to show that such an opinion is ground- 
less — that the established Christian associates with 
the Gospel all that is supremely joyful, and that 
consequently they ought to pardon him for smil- 
ing when they think he should weep, and to account 
even eccentricities which are betrayed by some hope- 
ful and jubilant sj)irits as not altogether foreign to 
the condition of those who feel a personal interest 
in the most gladsome tidings that ever fell on the 
ear of man. Yet Christians ought to consider that 
to the eye of the conscious sinner Christianity must 
ever be discolored by the dark medium through 
which he sees it, and that when we cannot remove 
wrong prejudices, though we must not strengthen 
them, it is advisable not to shock them by a wanton 
adherence to positive faults. 

We do not take upon us to justify the views which 
the unbelieving world entertain of such conduct, and 
though we would not take away aught from whatever 



ECCENTRICITIES. 163 

of weight may attach to the foregoing considerations, 
it is worth while to suggest that there is another and 
important side to this whole snbject. 

The man of the world who forms his judgments of 
Christianity on his views of the grotesque conduct of 
some of its professors, brings to it a very unfair test. 
Ko man is authorized to shape his notions of the Gos- 
pel religion by the deportment of its professors. 
"When our Master said, "By their fruits ye shall 
know them," obviously, he did not mean that we 
should infer the character of the Christian system by 
the lives of those who embrace it : he meant that we 
might distinguish the true disciple from the false, by 
his conduct as tried by the documents of inspiration. 
From them, and not from the discordant notions of 
mankind, are we to learn what his Gospel is, and 
who are his genuine disciples. This plain and rea- 
sonable principle is almost always practically denied 
or overlooked by the mass of unbelievers, and by not 
a few who profess to believe. 

And let the man of the world be pleased to know 
that the Gospel does not demand his belief on the 
ground of its beauty as a system — in the esteem of an 
unchristianized taste, the Grecian and Roman mythol- 
ogy might surpass it in this particular ; neither for its 
antiquity, for the serpent was older than the son of the 
woman who bruised its head ; nor for the learning of 
its votaries, for the wise, the scribe and the disputer of 
this world might outdo them here ; nor yet for the pol- 
ish of their manners, for those who stake their eternal 
interests on an elegant demeanor, at the same time 
disregarding all the higher virtues, might leave far 
behind them those who chiefly aim to possess holi- 



164 ECCENTRICITIES. 

ness of heart and righteousness of life. The Gospel 
sets u]3 its claim to his belief on the ground of its 
truth as a revealed proposal of eternal salvation to 
believers. Upon this ground does this beneficent 
scheme call for om* trust, no matter how or by whom 
it is heralded or exemplified. J^o obliquity in the 
heart or behavior of the messenger, or of those who 
hear him gladly, can excuse us for making light of 
the message. A Balaam must not be deaf to the 
truth, though it be declared by an ass ; and an Ahab, 
and an Ahaziah must give ear to the words of Elijah, 
though he be a hairy man and wear a leathern girdle 
about his loins. 

No error as to Christianity, is more common or 
more fatal than that of mistaking the real objects of 
faith and affection. Many imagine that they love 
the unseen Redeemer, when they are, in fact, only 
enamored of the develo^^ments, the appendages, the 
ritual, the oratory, poetry, music, painting, or sculp- 
ture of a visible church; or the rank, learning, or 
politeness of its membership. HeljD Christianity out 
of her attractive circumstantials, and she no longer 
has any charms for them. Her celestial birth, her 
intrinsic beauty, her untold beneficence, cannot save 
her from being deserted by them. And yet these 
esthetic additions to the Gospel church do not help to 
reconcile men to the peculiar doctrines and duties 
of the Gospel, but are rather a soil where thrives 
most luxuriantly the vanity which it is one design of 
the Gospel to uproot and consume. Instead of throw- 
ing light on the OjDen pages of revelation, they cast 
shadows u^^on them, or turn away om' eyes from those 
pages to contemplate their own mummeries. It is 



ECCENTRICITIES. 165 

easier to conciliate taste to our forms tlian to win the 
heart to our God. It is easier to attract the world 
around us by the graces of our deportment or the 
splendor of our attire, than to lead them to the feet 
of the bleeding and dying l^azarene by any means 
whatsoever. 

Were eccentricity peculiar to believers, the man of 
gentility might find in that fact the shadow of a plea 
for rejecting their faith. He might say, ' a system 
that is the sole parent of irregularity cannot be of 
Divine original.' — But, in truth, eccentricity shows 
itself in persons of every character, culture and order. 
Men of taste are as deeply infected with it as coarse- 
minded men, and the ungodly equally with the pious. 
Would not the dainty rejecter of the Gospel religion 
do well to inquire whether eccentricity be not rather 
a freak of nature than of our religion, whether nature 
has not engendered it for our religion, instead of our 
religion for nature, and whether he ought not to seek 
in his own disordered heart the seeds of all that is 
fantastical, erratic, and monstrous, and reproach him- 
self, and those who are on his side with the faults 
which he imputes to the pious, but which are only 
associated with the depravity that lingers with 
them, and only abound where grace has not yet pre- 
vailed ? 

But do not yom- men of refinement like too well 
what custom, and perhaps their own sense of proj)rie- 
ty, compels them to complain of? Is it not manifest 
that the eccentricities of professors are the only things 
connected with sincere piety that they highly relish ? 
Are they not even dilettanti of this fine art? Do 
they not actually patronize it by often resorting to 



166 ECCENTRICITIES. 

the religious assemblies where it is to be witnessed ? 
Do they not find a great deal of diversion in those 
very irregularities which they speak of with affected 
sneers and airs of disdain ? By crowding to suffoca- 
tion the places where pious drolleries are to be seen, 
while they desert the house of sober worshippers, do 
they not encourage mistaken, but well-meaning men 
to pander to their appetite, with the hope of thereby 
raising them to noble aspirations? It ill becomes 
them to condemn so unsparingly what they are them- 
selves the occasion of, and what they would have 
nothing to do with were it changed for the better. 
Were they as cordially reconciled to the requirements 
of the Gospel, as they are to these imperfections of 
its professors, they would soon come to be men of no 
doubtful piety, and no narrow usefulness. Remove 
these faults, and if it were possible all other faults, 
from the lives of the pious, and these men would still 
find abundant cause to dislike them and their piety. 
They would dislike them for the sake of their godli- 
ness, and they would dislike their godliness for its 
own sake. An English clergyman once well observ- 
ed, respecting Mrs. Hannah More, " We see in her 
instance that every attempt to gain and secure the 
world's favor is utterly vain, if you suj^port real 
religion and act upon it yourself. Look at Hannah 
More — at her genius, popularity, influence, abjuration 
of cant and bad taste, and her innocence of every- 
thing that can disgust mankind ; the friend of Gar- 
rick, Johnson, Reynolds, and of all their envied 
circles, and see what treatment the best adorned piety 
will ever meet with from the world." 



CHAPTEE XI. 



" Peehaps," says Swift, " I may one day oblige 
the world with my critical essay on the art of cant- 
ing ; philosophically, physically, and musically con- 
sidered." And every one who realizes how much 
religion has suffered by the cant of its professors, 
must regret that he did not lend to the subject he has 
proposed the force of his surpassing wit. The day is 
past, perhaps, when such an essay was needed most : 
yet even in our own times a hint on this subject may 
be useful to some who have insensibly formed the 
habit of canting. 

Cant is to be found among men of all ranks, par- 
ties, professions, and crafts. 'Not a few glory in it, 
and those circles and coteries that profess to hate it 
and to keep clear of it, have fallen into it unawares 
by their very efforts to shun it. Only theirs is not 
the cant of the vulgar. It partakes of the refinement, 
a reputation for which, they are concerned to keep 
up. Those belonging to these secular orders, who 
are pious, bring their peculiar way of speaking to 
the aid of their religion, so that one can sometimes 
divine what rank, profession, or vocation one is ofj 
by hearing him talk on the subject of religion. There 



168 CANT. 

can be no objection against a man of any degree or 
calling using his own dialect as a vehicle of spiritual 
ideas, so he holds in due respect the requirements of 
propriety and taste, and does not handle sacred 
themes with irreverent familiarity. 

Besides this secular cant, which is perceptible in 
members of all denominations, there is a sort of reli- 
gious cant, which is peculiar to denominations, sects, 
and theological parties. There is none, however, 
which is peculiar to Christians in general, and as 
such ; and this fact goes to show that it has its source 
in the infirmities of human nature, rather than in the 
graces of the Spirit : and encourages the hope that 
when sects shall be no more, cant will soon disap- 
pear. As the case now stands, one denomination in 
the endeavor to shun the verbal peculiarities of an- 
other, acquire a cant of their own, opposite, in fact, 
to what they aim to avoid, and in their opinion no 
way objectionable, — still a cant which is very grat- 
ing to the ears of those who are of a different name. 
The cant of a denomination commonly takes its tone 
from peculiarities of faith, practice, or polity, and 
could not in many cases be removed without disturb- 
ing deep-seated prejudices. This cant is often fos- 
tered by fond recollections, or a reverence for the 
great and the antique : and as it commonly serves 
the purpose of a watchword or a battle-cry, the gene- 
rality think that the moment one renounces it^ he 
must needs give u-p all the principles that are usually 
leagued with it, and thenceforth forfeit every claim to 
orthodoxy. The best apology for it is, that it is 
sometimes convenient, and that it is not easy to keep 
clear of it ; its condemnation is that it contradicts the 



CANT. 169 

spirit of the Gospel, bj showing a desire for peciili- 
aritj for its own sake, that it is apt to be mistaken 
for and received as a substitute for piety, and that it 
strengthens some in their ungodliness, by giving 
them occasion for turning religious solemnities into 
farces and comedies — a work to which they are nat- 
urally but too prone. 

Personal cant, or that which is peculiar to indi- 
vidual Christians, is very common, and to this source 
is to be traced a great deal of denominational cant ; 
inasmuch as the founder or leader of a sect almost 
always gives his manners as well as his tenets to his 
disciples. In the same way, a master in Israel, or 
some popular preacher, gives the key-note to num- 
bers of his clerical or laical admirers. Men of ardor 
and sensibility are exceedingly liable to contract a 
canting habit. As they exercise more feeling than 
thought, they acquire a habit of repeating set words 
and phrases, and as every passion has its tone, that 
which is strongest determines the note or strain used ; 
this comes at length to be invariably used in giving 
utterance to all emotions and passions whatever. 
To speak these words and phrases with a character- 
istic whining, snuffling, or muttering, constitutes the 
perfection of cant. 

In order to avoid canting, monotony should be 
shunned, especially in praying. The tones of the 
worshipper should vary with the sentiments he ex- 
presses. There may be a drowsy sameness in loud 
as well as in low sounds. All unnecessary exertion 
of the organs in praying or speaking, serves to confirm 
odd and unnatural tones. 

We are much the creatures of imitation in this 
H 



170 CANT. 

matter. Many Christians indicate by their tones the 
denomination of which they are members. And if 
some authorities are to be credited, time was when 
among certain sects a doctrine could scarce pass for 
orthodox unless it was delivered through the nose, 
and a person was not esteemed sufficiently pious un- 
til he had attained to some proficiency in the art of 
whining." And from the j)opularity of canting 
among some good people, even at this day, one 
would conclude that such notions were not yet whol- 
ly exploded ; for although we do not always hear the 
unrestrained w^hine and song-like tone, and quaint 
and afi'ected pronunciation, so common in a former 
age, and in the j^arent-land, yet many in this country 
practise a sing-song which is quite dolorous and im- 
tunable, while some have such skill in the art, that 
they could have been scarcely equalled by Andrew 
Cant himself." 

Some have even carried their canting from reli- 
gious assemblies into the intercourse of secular life-, 
so that they not only disturb the ears of those who 
go to their places of worship), by their canting pray- 
ers, but daily annoy all who hear them, by their 
canting way of talking. These are they who drag 
into all their communications, whether spoken or 
written, the words and phrases of Scripture, and by 

-2 Butler, whose language is doubtless exaggerated, says that some 
could, 

" By the sound and twang of nose, 
If all be sound within disclose ; 
Free from crack and flaw of sinning, 
As men try pipkins by the ringing." 
^^ From Andrew Cant and his son Alexander, seditious preaching 
and praying in Scotland were called canting. 



CANT. 171 

their quaint stjle and puritanical pronunciation, 
have done more than anybody else to multiply itch- 
ing ears, and render the good old Saxon of the Bible 
obsolete and insipid. 

Others speak naturally enough on secular topics, 
but with extreme affectation on the subject of reli- 
gion. Sensible that their feelings come far short of 
the demands of the subject or the occasion, they are 
unwilling to be suspected of any lukewarmness. They 
torture their words and features in j)enance for their 
insensibility, and compensate for the lack of a solemn 
mind by a solemn manner. But, at the same time, 
far be it from me, and far be it from my brethren, 
to commend that pertness which can discourse with 
equal indifference upon the concerns of eternity and 
the history of a ring, or that fluency which never 
staggers under the weight of overpowering thoughts. 
The smooth and playful sj)eech of the pious trifler 

" To me is odious as the nasal twang 
Heard at conventicle, where worthy men 
Misled by custom, strain celestial themes 
Through the pressed nostril, spectacle bestrid." 



CHAPTER Xn. 



A ZEALOUS but ignorant son of Ham, in one of our 
Southern states, having exhorted a congregation 
with more rapture than reason, at the close of the 
service an auditor gravely observed to a friend : " It 
may be, sir, that the Lord understood what that 
brother was saying ; I did not." Were none but 
Jehovah to hear our prayers, incoherence and raving 
might seem less blameworthy — even then it is ques- 
tionable whether He would not cast a more ]3ropi- 
tious eye on the petitioner did he not so abuse His 
own gift of speech. But since in social worshij) the 
prayer of one is to be the prayer of all, and the beg- 
ging of one, by reminding another of the same pover- 
ty induces that other to beg also, it is of some impor- 
tance that the speaker be distinctly understood by all 
the other worshippers. " In the church," says the 
apostle Paul, " I had rather speak five words with my 
understanding, that by my voice I might teach others 
also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue." 
Would that such were the preference of some modern 
believers, a likeness of whom is seen in Butler's de- 
scription of " An hypocritical non-conformist." We 
copy it, not as approving every line of the limner, 



RANT. 173 

but as showing in what light men of the world view 
ranting. 

" The zealous pangs and agonies, 
The heavenly turnings of the eyes ; 
The groans with which he piously destroys 
And drowns the nonsense in the noise, 
And grows so loud as if he meant to force 
And take in heaven by violence ; 



Until he falls so low and hoarse 

No kind of carnal sense 

Can be made out of what he means." 

To pray with a voice unnecessarily loud, is to 
make ludicrous what should be serious. The prophet 
Elijah ridiculed the prophets of Baal for their vain 
vociferations, and Lucian amuses his readers by rep- 
resenting Diogenes boisterously praying to Jupiter. 
We never hear such a bawling petitioner without 
thinking him analogous to a stubborn child crying 
after its unheeding mother. When the terms used 
are not the natural outpouring of deep feeling it is a 
sort of hypocrisy — a pretension to holy passions not 
cherished. Some quote Scripture in defence of their 
clamor, but a careful study of it would lead them to 
suit the pitch of their voice to persons, places, and 
circumstances. It was fit that on the great day of 
the feast, while a proce'ssion was bearing water from 
the pool of Siloam to the altar, Jesus should stand 
and " cry" : " If any man thirst let him come unto 
me and drink," but this was not his manner on all 
occasions : he did not habitually " cry or cause his 
voice to be heard in the streets." It was fit that the 
blind man, who could not easily be heard amidst a 



174 RANT. 

noisy multitude, should call after Jesus " with a loud 
voice," and the leper, when he found himself healed 
should glorify God " with a loud voice." Yet it 
would not have become either of them to offer their 
daily prayers to Omnipresence in so high a tone. It 
was fit that when the multitudes bore the Son of 
David in triumph into Jerusalem, they should make 
the heights of Olivet give back their loud hosannahs, 
but the gentle Jesus would have rebuked the person 
who had dared to shout at the wonders of the trans- 
figuration, or during the agonies of Gethsemane. 



CHAPTEE XIII. 

CHEISTIAN SOCIABILITY. 

Cheistian- courtesy cannot be successfully culti- 
vated without the aid of Christian intercourse. It is 
only in the society of the brethren that the milder 
and more amiable virtues of the renewed man are 
made to unfold the highest charms, and to exert the 
most benign influence. Those professors who neglect 
the social prayer circle and brotherly call, only meet- 
ing one another on the Sabbath, do not in general 
acquu'e that gentleness and affability of manners 
which adorn the character of the more sociable 
Chi'istian. It is a matter of common regret that a 
more symmetrical development of the graces is not 
furnished by the generality of religious people. Each 
one stands, it may be, unrivalled in some one excel- 
lence, but is very defective in other required qual- 
ities. This disproportion among the virtues is mostly 
discoverable among the solitary, the retiring, and 
all who, from inclination or necessity, live without 
the refining contact of pious acquaintance. Some 
remedy for the evil might be found in a more inti- 
mate and frequent intercourse among the members 
of churches, each of whom, by the exhibition of his 
good qualities, would mend the opposite defects in 



176 CHRISTIAN SOCIABILITY. 

others, and by occasionally betraying his bad qual- 
ities would lead others to shun them. So that while 
no one perfect model could be found, a combination 
of the most beautiful features in each could produce 
a pattern of Christian conduct to which all would 
gradually and almost insensibly conform. Is not this 
the method by which the members of some churches 
have attained such eminence in the gentler virtues? 
And is it not by reason of their so frequent and so- 
ciable intercourse among themselves, that the high- 
est classes in the society of the world have always 
been so distinguished for their gentility ? 

Unsociableness always leads to ignorance, rude- 
ness and vice. This is true not only of churches, but 
of villages, cities, and even of whole countries. It suf- 
ficiently accounts for the anarchy and barbarism of 
the inhabitants of Laish, that " they had no business 
with any man." And we can easily imagine how 
Homer's giants could be lawless cannibals and one- 
eyed dullards, when we are informed that they lived 
apart in caves on the tops of the loftiest mountains, 
and held no friendly intercourse with one another. 

The secluded Christian is liable to grow self igno- 
rant and self-righteous. Neglecting to compare his 
moral character with that of others, as he might use- 
fully do by keeping up a friendly commerce with 
them, he comes at length to fancy that he is better 
than they. Were he to go into the assemblies of the 
pious, he might see some of his fellow-disciples of 
whose piety he had not been accustomed to cherish a 
high opinion, discovering amidst influences adverse 
to godliness, the most admirable traits of Christian 
excellence. The recluse is apt to conclude that his 



CHRISTIAN SOCIABILITY. 177 

passions are subdued bj divine grace when they are 
only lulled to repose by the stillness of solitude. 
Let such an one expose his saintly heart to the trials 
of society, and he will be despoiled of his spiritual 
pride and be compelled to say, " I have seen an end 
of all perfection." IS'ot that a Christian should ex- 
pose himself to all sorts of temptation with a view to 
obtain the strongest practical evidence of remaining 
depravity, but that he should frequent those compa- 
nies of his brethren where he will behold others whom 
he must regard far from perfect, surpassing him in 
the very virtues upon which he most plumes himself; 
where, by a discovery of his own faults, he may mend 
them ; and by contemplating the graces of others, 
he may make them his own. 

Were members of the same church and of different 
churches better acquainted with each other, there 
would be less silent suspicion and secret enmity 
among them — feelings they sometimes so long con- 
ceal in their own bosoms, that it is equally difficult 
to tell whence they arose and how they may be sub- 
dued. The faults of the godly may be detected upon 
a slight acquaintance with them, but it requires a 
long intimacy to form a just estimate of their virtues. 
To the eye of the imagination, the smallest blemish in 
the character is magnified in proportion to the dis- 
tance of the point whence it is viewed ; and the most 
winning beauties of the good, when seen from afar, 
sometimes appear frightful deformities. 

Some town churches are not so much brotherhoods 
as strangerhoods. The members hold no affable and 
friendly communion with one another. They main- 
tain a mutual reserve which would not be endured in 



178 CHRISTIAN SOCIABILITY. 

any secular society. Professedly the discij)les of a 
Master who originated a new command requii'ing 
brotherly love, they do not so much as know whether 
their dear brethren have any amiable qualities or not. 
They shun each other in the intercourse of secular 
life, and never exchange those acts of kindness and 
offices of courtesy which are the very bonds and knots 
of fraternal affection. The new convert who leaves 
the hearty and confiding associations of the world 
and comes into their fellowship, is chilled by an at- 
mosphere of reserve and suspicion. His loneliness 
in his new relation is not unlike that of Zobeide of 
Arabian story, who is represented wandering alone 
among the petrified retinue of a palace. 

" Amid the gathered throng no sound was heard, 
Nor parting lips breathed forth the welcome word ; 
There beamed no smile, there rose no bitter sigh. 
And soulless was the gaze of every eye." p. d, g. 

In most churches, however, the newly received 
convert will find no difficulty in forming acquain- 
tances if he has a lively concern for the common cause, 
and resorts to all the meetings of the brethren. He 
need not hope to domesticate himself in the church, 
by only appearing in its promiscuous congregations 
once or twice on Sunday. Exemplary members do not, 
on that day, divert their minds from their holy duties 
by j)resentations and conversations. Let the new- 
comer frequent the prayer-meetings, the Sunday- 
school, the week-day lecture, the business meeting ; 
and if a female, the Dorcas society, and the maternal 
association. His presence in these more social gath- 
erings will be his best recommendation to the confi- 



CHRISTIAN SOCIABILITY. 179 

dence of liis brethren, and will presently win for him 
the love of all the most excellent and faithful among 
his fellow-disciples. 

ISText to the cultivation of a more, active and 
j)rajerful pietj, something like the ancient "Agape" 
or "feast of charity," would greatly serve to ban- 
ish unsociableness from many churches. If, as 
is customary in some city churches, the members 
would meet once a month in winter, and once in two 
months during summer, to converse on morals, reli- 
gion, benevolent institutions, and other subjects of 
common interest, they would not long be deficient in 
brotherly love. These meetings, like the feasts of 
charity among primitive Christians, might be opened 
by prayer, and closed by j)rayer and singing. If it 
took place in the evening, the customs of American 
society would render collations and all refreshments 
needless. With some such method of social commu- 
nion, the harmony and efiiciency of the church would 
be promoted. So that in the exercise of all the ten- 
derness and sympathy of true fellowship, their pas- 
tors might appropriately congratulate them in the 
language of the apostle Paul to the church of Ephe- 
sus : " JSTow are ye no longer strangers and foreign- 
ers, but fellow-citizens with the saints and of the 
household of God." 

When a brother is received into a church by letter 
or otherwise, it is the duty of the members to request 
a presentation to him. If none of the laymen are 
acquainted with him, it is courteous for the pastor to 
present them to him. But when this is inconvenient, 
two or more members may alternately present each 
other to him. The sisters may observe the same 



180 CHEISTIAK SOCIABILITY. 

rule when a female stranger is added to their number. 
The neglect of these forms of recognition so common 
in modern churches was not known among primitive 
believers. To the courtesies due to their brethren 
they were very attentive. So ardent was the mutual 
love, and so becoming was their expression of it, that 
it distinguished them from the heathens, while it 
called forth their admiration. Some part of the 
closing chapters of most of the epistles of Paul, 
and nearly all of the last chapter of that to the 
Romans, are devoted to salutations and compliments. 
In the journey of this apostle from Athens to Jerusa- 
lem, he landed at Csesarea for no other ^^urj^ose, that 
his biographer has mentioned, than to salute the 
church in that city. He also directed his converts 
to greet one another w4th a '' holy kiss." This had 
among the primitive disciples a specijSc meaning. 
It was exjDressive of brotherly love and union. By 
this the convert after being baptized, was welcomed 
to the sympathy, affection and guardianship of the 
Church. They greeted one another with this kiss 
just before they gathered around the table of their 
Lord. It was with this that every Christian received 
his wayfaring brother under his protection, and 
welcomed him to his hospitalities. 'No matter if 
they were entire strangers to each other ; if they 
differed widely in country and culture and rank, this 
was the expressive mark of brotherly endearment, 
and the inviolable pledge of mutual subjection and 
protection. 

The Christian should not require of his brother so 
formal a presentation as men of the world demand 
of each other ; nay, there are occasions when he 



CHRISTIAN SOCIABILITY. 181 

should ask none at all. To know that another is a 
fellow-disciple, should be thought a sufficient pledge 
of his worth, and to know that he cherishes the same 
faith and ho})e is assurance enough that his acquaint- 
ance, though it should not be the most agreeable, will 
be neither dishonorable nor pernicious. Persons of 
nearly equal spiritual attainments, may be so diverse 
in tastes, talents, and pursuits, that they can derive 
little pleasure from one another's society. Each 
should consider the preferences of the other, and if 
he has reason to think his society would not be 
agreeable to another, he should allow him to make 
the first advances towards an acquaintance and if 
the latter should never make them, he should not 
regard it as an indication of a lack of fraternal love. 
Kindred spirits in all societies blend by the most 
easy and unpresuming means. A man of inferior 
parts and attainments ought not to suppose that a 
spiritual equality with his more gifted brother en- 
titles him to all the privileges of a social equality 
with him. The apostolic command is : " Let every 
man abide in the same calling wherein he is called." 
The ScrijDtures nowhere encourage impertinence and 
disrespect towards superiors, or suj^erciliousness and 
contempt towards inferiors. When a Christian of 
high social rank, who is truly courteous and de- 
serving of the rank he occupies, discovers that his 
brother of lower degree is qualified for a higher 
social sphere, he will cheerfully come down from his 
place, and with his own hands place before his feet 
the stepping-stone to an eminence in society equal to 
his merits and his capacity of enjoyment. 

A prolific source of unsociableness among Christian 



182 CHRISTIAN SOCIABILITY. 

bretliren, is the partiality of members of wealth and 
rank to one another, and the partiality of officers in 
the church towards them. In a Church of Christ 
assembled as such, no member is entitled to exclusive 
privileges. Mere external circumstances of wealth, 
social, literary, or political distinction ought not 
to confer upon any one a single advantage over the 
poor, the unbefriended, the unlettered, and the ob- 
scure ; not so much as the enjoyment of better pews 
than those occupied by the latter. It is contrary to an 
explicit admonition of the apostle James: "If there 
come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in 
goodly apparel ; and there come in also a poor man 
in vile raiment ; and ye have respect to him that 
weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou 
here in a good place ; and say to the poor. Stand 
thou here, or sit here under my footstool ; are ye not 
then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of 
evil thoughts ?" The courteous Christian cannot 
desire or accept any superiority of power or place in 
the house of God by the mere virtue of his external 
advantages. Whatever there may be elsewhere, in the 
sacred assembly at least, let there be neither arro- 
gance nor envy ; " Let the brother of low degree re- 
joice in that he is exalted ; but the rich that he is 
made low." 



PART III. 

THE FORMS OF COURTESY IN SECULAR SOCIETY. 



People are of course at liberty to disregard, or modify, according 
to circumstances, some of the rules laid down in this part of the work. 
But they cannot always do it with entire impunity. Many of the 
conventional forms of society, like the common law of the land, are 
enforced by the authority of ancient usage and the sanction of uni- 
versal reason. Let not the reader imagine, therefore, that the author 
sets himself up as a lawgiver in these matters. He has in many in- 
stances but codified those laws which are observed by the mass of 
well-bred people, who alone are to be regarded as " the makers of 
manners." 



CHAPTER I. 

HONOR AND PRECEDENCE. 

ISTo precept of the Decalogue is, perhaps, so little 
understood, or so often violated at this day, as the 
fifth, and many of those who are really desirous to 
know what the duty is which it enjoins, interpret it 
literally, and content themselves with an adherence 
to the letter of the command, overlooking the truth 
that this, like many other Scripture injunctions, 
gives a single instance, under a moral precept, 
which covers a wide range of kindred duties. 
When Jehovah said to Israel, "Honor thy father 
and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the 
land which the Lord thy God giveth thee," He is, 
to be understood to enjoin, among other things, all 
those marks of respect which inferiors owe to supe- 
riors, and to touch upon that great law of honor, 
wi'itten on the hearts of all mankind, which requires 
deference and submission, not only from children to 
their parents, but from wives to their husbands, ser- 
vants to their masters, subjects to their rulers, 
church-members to their pastors, etc. Other pre- 
cepts scattered through the sacred writings, and 
which will readily occur to any one, also look to- 
ward the same law. 



^186 HONOR AND PRECEDENCE. 

]^ot a few think it a sufficient apology for their 
contemptuous bearing towards superiors, that their 
character or conduct is such as to make it impos- 
sible to feel respect for them. But they should 
know that this command regards not so much the 
inward feelings, as it does the outward behavior, 
and that it binds us to do homage to the age, rela- 
tion, office, and rank of those faults that do not enti- 
tle them to our inward respect. So long as they 
sustain toward us the relation of superiors, they may 
claim our honor irrespective of our opinions concern- 
ing them. Though the intoxication of I^oah was and 
ought to have been disgusting to Ham, it did not 
mitigate his curse for having dishonored his father 
by his improper deportment, nor keep God from 
driving his posterity, the Canaanites, out of the land 
which the Lord their God had given them. The 
Israelite was commanded witJiout qualification to 
rise up before the hoary head and honor the face of 
the old man, and the youthful Elihu did not think 
it decorous to interrupt Job and his three friends, 
though their reasonings had, as he thought, done 
violence to the truth, had offended his piety, and 
kindled his wrath. Paul promptly apologized for 
the opprobrious language he had unwittingly used, 
in addressing Ananias, the high priest, though that 
language showed that he felt no respect for his moral 
character. 

Since all nations are now beginning to " hold these 
truths to be self-evident," that all men are created 
socially equal, that they are endowed by their 
Creator with certain inalienable rights ; that among 
these are the luxuries of life, liberty to disregard all 



HONOR AND PRECEDENCE. 187 

rules of respect, and the pm-siiit of happiness at the 
expense of the happiness of others, many may, per- 
haps, regard it as a piece of information more cmi- 
ons and antique than useful and practical, that time 
was when there were in use such words as " supe- 
rior" and " inferior," that they were used in speak- 
ing of persons, and that children actually were 
taught the difference between them. Many 23ersons 
belonging to that generation are still living, and 
may their shadow never be less ! For the sake of 
these and of those having come into the world at a 
more recent date, who may have some lingering 
scruples about honor and precedence, we offer the 
following observations : 

Precedence is determined by title, birth, rank in 
profession, age, sex, marriage, and hospitality. For 
a specification of the rights of precedence due to 
the various ranks of the English nobility, the reader 
may consult Blackstone's Commentaries, or some 
work on heraldry. In this country, where heraldic 
rules are not followed, except when titled foreigners 
are of the party, the stranger takes the place of all 
others, and, in his absence, the first place is awarded 
to the aged, ^one but "uery aged ladies^ however, are 
to be offered the precedence in virtue of their years. 
Ladies take the precedence of gentlemen. But when 
a lady is serving a circle of ladies and gentlemen, 
she should serve gentlemen first, and in addressing 
them collectively she should say, "gentlemen and 
ladies." A gentleman, on the contrary, always 
gives ladies the first place in service and address. 
There is high authority, we are aware, for ladies 
giving precedence to their own sex, but a moment's 



188 HONOR AND PRECEDENCE. 

reflection must con^dnce any one that this is a solecism 
in manners. Married i3eoj)le take place of single. 
The mere man of fortune has no j)articular place as- 
signed him by the laws of precedence. He is, in 
general, exj^ected to yield the pass to gentlemen of 
the learned professions, literati, and artists. For the 
rules of rank and precedence observed in the liter- 
ary world, the reader is referred to 'No. 529 of the 
Spectator, written by Mr. Addison. Though he 
treats the subject in a vein of blended seriousness 
and humor, he is really recording the ceremonial 
which was in his day, and is still regarded by some 
literary men, on certain festive occasions. For the 
information of those who may not happen to know 
it, we would add, that the table of precedence is not 
arranged on the scale of personal merit, so that all 
cause of jealousy and heart-burnings is happily pre- 
cluded. We should alway?, when we are at liberty 
to do it, choose the lowest place, remembering the 
divine precept, " When thou art bidden, go and sit 
down in the lowest room." When a superior ofiers 
us a place, to which we are not entitled, we should 
take it immediately. It is said that when Louis 
XIY. once requested an English nobleman to enter 
his coach before him, the nobleman declined the 
honor. Whereupon the king mounted his seat, 
ordered the door to be shut, and rode off, leaving 
the polite lord to his own meditations. 

Somebody, we know not who, has said in sub- 
stance, that laws of precedence are as needful to the 
good order of society as the law of attraction is to 
preserve the heavenly bodies in their appointed 
orbits. As one star differs from another in magni- 



HONOR AND PRECEDENCE. 189 

tude and splendor, according to tlie destiny it has to 
fulfill in the universe, so are the rank and station of 
men proportional to the duties they have to perform 
among mankind. And as in astronomy we do not 
despise Mercury because he is not as large as 
Saturn, nor our own earth because she has not four 
moons, like Jupiter, so we do not esteem our equals 
or inferiors the less, because they do not occupy the 
first places in society. All ranks are the most use- 
ful in their proper place, and we cannot help re- 
specting the individuals of any rank in proportion 
as they perform aright their respective duties. 



CHAPTEE II. 

SALUTATIONS. 

No mortal is so low or so base as to be beneath a 
salutation, and none so higb or so good as to omit 
one with impunity. But for this and other forms of 
civility, the intercom-se of men would be as rude and 
informal as that of brutes. Faulty as these forms may 
be, they have obtained universal observance among 
men, and even angels, direct from the court of heaven, 
whenever they have made themselves visible to us, 
have in this respect deigned to conform to the usages 
of human intercourse. The celestial ministers who 
were entertained by the hospitality of Abraham and 
Lot, were not surpassed in good breeding by those illus- 
trious gentlemen themselves. And the angel of the 
annunciation j)refaced the message he delivered with 
a courteous salutation and a gracious compliment. 

The salutation is sometimes used by men of the 
world as a defence against the advances of the im- 
pertinent, and those who would not be agreeable ac- 
quaintance. The politeness of the world suffers us, 
by a mock and excessive civility, to wound the feel- 
ings of the unconscious aggressor. It is so inconsis- 
tent with itself that it directs us to treat others in a 
manner we would be very unwilling to be treated 



SALUTATIONS. 191 

ourselves, and to transgress the very rules we require 
others to obey. But evangelical courtesy does not 
arrogate to herself the power of punishing those who 
may deserve it, by any severity of bearing or ad- 
dress. She turns the unsmitten cheek to the sniiter, 
and cordially salutes them that refuse to salute her. 
Our meek Lord courteously addressed his betrayer 
thus — '-'- Friend^ wherefore art thou come ?" "We 
should not, except in cases of personal violence, 
charge another with an injury or insult at the time 
of the act. Our provoked temper might inflame that 
of the offender to a degree that would render the 
hurt quite incurable. And even after reconciliation 
has been sought in vain, courtesy does not allow the 
parties to omit a salutation, or to avoid looking at 
each other when they meet. Yet we should not 
feign resj)ect with a view to disguise hatred or con- 
tempt. Whenever the ancient nobles of Spain met 
the upstart grandees, they made them very low bows, 
and addressed them by their high-sounding titles, 
treating them with the most polite disdain ; but in 
their intercourse with one another they laid aside all 
ceremony, and assumed the free and familiar beha- 
vior of equals and friends. Such conduct does not 
comport with the simplicity of Christian com^tesy. 

When we are in the company of our acquaintance,,, 
we should carefully avoid making our intimate 
friends very conspicuous by greeting them with a 
great deal more warmth, or showing them many 
more attentions than we do others. And while pay- 
ing our compliments to a clergyman, or other public 
person, we should not approach him in a manner 
which shows we esteem ourselves his favorites, even 



192 SALUTATIONS. 

when we know that we are. Whoever seeks to be 
either the recipient or dispenser of exclusive favors 
is as selfish as he makes himself offensive. 

We ought generally, however, to make some dis- 
tinction, slight though it be, in our behavior towards 
persons who sustain different relations to us. We 
must not shake hands with every one, nor doff the 
hat to all. To some we need only touch the hat, to 
others, waive the hand ; to others we make a mere 
inclination of the head. To shake hands with a 
stroDg gripe, or by j)resenting one or two fingers, is 
contemptuous familiarity. To address all with great 
cordiality, is the way to secure the confidence of 
none. We do not highly prize a heart which we see 
cast at the feet of every one. 

Our expressions of respect ought always to be suit- 
able to the age, rank, and other relations of the per- 
son addressed. We should avoid familiarity toward 
superiors, disresj)ect to equals, and a contemj^t for 
inferiors. The inspired precept is, " Honor all 
men," and this applies as well to the feeblest, as to 
the mightiest of mankind. 

It is a good old usage for a pastor to " give his 
blessing" to any member of his flock, or other lay- 
man, who is taking leave of him when about to go a 
journey, or commence an imj)ortant enterprise. A 
senior layman may, on a like occasion, bless a junior, 
who should thank him for the benediction, and not 
bless him in return ; " without all contradiction the 
less is blessed of the better." 

There are a few who think it unscriptural to salute 
a neighbor. They afiirm that the command of our 
Divine Master ought to be literally obeyed. But He 



SALUTATIONS. 193 

did not mean by this injunction to forbid every form 
of greeting : he would, in figurative language, only 
signify to his disciples that they should make all expe- 
dition in executing the great designs of their mission, 
and when they saluted a person, not scrupulously 
observe all those punctilios practised by the Jews of 
those times. That he did not intend to interdict 
every kind of salutation, is clear, from that other pre- 
cept : " When ye come into an house, salute it."" 
Nay, our Lord required his discij^les to extend their 
civilities to others beside their brethren : " If ye sa- 
lute your brethren only, what do ye more than oth- 
ers ? Do not even the publicans so ?"" Christians, 
therefore, are bound to be more liberal of their salu- 
tations than people of the world are accustomed to 
be. All the forms of salutation now in common use, 
are at least expressions of affection and good-will. 
Some of them originated in pious benevolence. The 
salutations " Adieu," " Good-bye," " Good morning," 
etc., were at first, it is probable, intended as invoca- 
tions of divine protection and support ; so that both 
the natural feeling of humanity and Christian char- 
ity seem to claim the salutation as the proper vehicle 
of their kind desires. 

" Matt. 10 : 12. " Matt. 3 : 47. 

I 



CHAPTEE in. 

DEPORTMENT IN THE STREET. 

All improprieties of behavior in the street being 
offences against Christian courtesy, and liable to pub- 
lic exposure and ridicule, there need be no apology 
for offering some suggestions on the subject. 

Do not go into the street until you are completely 
dressed. Your cloak, or shawl, and even your gloves, 
should be adjusted before you open the street door. 

Xever go into the street with a cigar or pipe in 
your mouth. 'No person having just ideas of cleanli- 
ness and decency, ever smoked in any public place 
or conveyance. It would be difficult to decide which 
is the more selfish creature : he who pollutes the pure 
atmosphere of heaven with the sickening fumes which 
are puffed from his filthy mouth, or he who reels about 
the street, taking both sides of the walk along with 
him, and dashing against everybody that tries to get 
past him. When, as is often the case, the blended 
fumes of tobacco and liquor envelop a drunkard, 
they make him the lothsome monopolizer of both 
earth and air. Never smoke in a city, unless stand- 
ing in the company of chimneys, on a fire-proof roof, 
and never in the country unless wandering far from 
all human haunts and habitations. 

When a lady, an aged person, or any one deserv- 



DEPOKTMENT IN THE STREET. 195 

ing deference meets you, give lier the side next the 
wall. This rule may be violated only in a street 
so thronged that people are compelled to pass one 
another on the right. If you are giving your arm to 
a lady, permit her to take the side next the wall ; but 
if you are frequently turning corners you need not 
scrupulously observe this usage. On a staircase 
always give a lady, but never a gentleman superior, 
the wall. 

When you find a number of ladies at the entrance 
of a public conveyance, wait until they are all on 
board. To crowd before them because they happen 
to be unattended, and are not your acquaintance is 
discourteous. Offer them your assistance, but be not 
officiously attentive to them. Ladies should always 
thank gentlemen for such services. 

In passing gutters over which a narrow slab is laid 
it is not courteous to crowd before another who is 
ready to go over, or to jump over at the side of the 
slab while another is crossing upon it. When a lady 
is about to cross, a gentleman, who has reason to 
think his services would be agreeable to her, may 
pass over before her, and offer her his hand. If you 
are in the street with an umbrella during a storm, 
offer to share it with any respectable j)erson going the 
same way without one. If the person goes farther 
than yourself, shelter him to his own door. Avoid 
striking your umbrella against those who are passing 
by looking out for those coming towards you. 

If you meet an acquaintance salute him ; in many 
villages it is customary to salute every one a person 
meets. When you meet a gentleman of your ac- 
quaintance accompanied by a lady, take off your hat 



196 DEPORTMENT IN THE STREET. 

to him ; but if he is alone and be your equal, it is 
the usage in some cities and villages to bow, and 
touch your hat; to nod merely is disrespectful to ladies. 
If while walking with a friend, you meet an acquaint- 
ance, do not present them unless you are convinced 
that a presentation would be agreeable to both. 
When you are in company with a distinguished friend 
and meet an acquaintance, be not ashamed to salute 
him, even if he should be your meanest slave. If 
you meet a lady or gentleman who is your superior 
give such an one the privilege of first recognizing you 
and saluting you. If he speaks to you, and stops you 
for conversation, it is his duty to take leave first ; if 
a gentleman stops to talk with a lady, she should 
always close the interview. Do not stand long con- 
versing in the street, or near doors, or staircases. 

If you meet an acquaintance carrying anything, do 
nofe-iisiquire what he has, nor manifest the slightest 
curiosity about it, or if he should leave a friend with 
whom he is walking, in order to converse with you 
aside, do not ask him who he has with him. If you 
overtake persons of your acquaintance walking to- 
gether, do not join them unless they request you to do 
so. " When you meet an acquaintance do not ask him 
where he has been, nor whither he is going, l^ever 
ask a person whom you meet on Sunday, whether he 
has been to church, or where, nor say that you have 
been to such a church, but did not see him there. 

Cheerfully show any person a street, when he asks 
this favor, and if he can more easily understand 
your directions by your going a short distance with 
him, do so. When another has shown you the way 
thank him for his kindness. 



DEPORTMENT IN THE STREET. 197 

Avoid jostling and being jostled in a narrow or 
thronged street, by turning sidewise, or contracting 
your arms, at the same time watching the direction 
others are taking. Do not occupy more of the walk 
than others, by flourishing your cane or swinging 
your arms at large. Be so much of a soldier as to 
tm-n out your toes, but not so much of a boxer as to 
clench your fists. 

"When you meet two or more persons abreast, who 
are not your superiors, you are permitted to pass 
them on the side next the wall, and if the way is nar- 
row it is the duty of one of the company to fall be- 
hind the rest and let you pass. If you are a gentleman 
walking with another gentleman, who is giving his 
arm to a lady, walk by the side of the lady, so that 
she may be guarded on either hand : if you pass a 
gentleman and lady who are your equals, go by on 
the side of the lady, if your superiors, give them the 
wall. If you are to walk with several ladies give 
your arm to the eldest. 

If you stand at a door waiting to be admitted, do 
not look at the door, or if it be open, into the entry. 
" A fool," saith the son of Sirach, " will peep in at 
the door into the house, but he that is well nurtured 
will stand without." Do not stare people full in the 
face, nor cast your eyes carelessly or inquisitively 
around you ; " Let thine eyes look right on, and let 
thine eyelids look straight before thee." E'ever look 
at people through a window, unless they are close by 
it, when, if your friend or acquaintance within salute 
you, return the salutation. 

" Look not behind thee in the streets of the city, 
neither wander thou in the solitary places thereof." 



CHAPTER lY. 



TRAVELLING. 



The art «.l travelling it is difficult to acquire. In 
journeying, the Christian is united with his compan- 
ions by peculiar relations, and the duties he owes to 
them vary with the most minute circumstances. 
"When he travels in public conveyances, he meets 
with persons of every kind and condition, among 
whom he must sustain his character, not only as a 
man, but also as a Christian. 

When travelling as a man of business and passing 
over his route with the utmost speed, he is liable to 
be less attentive to the means of grace, and to relax 
his habits of watchfulness and prayer than when he 
is at home. With a view to economize time, he some- 
times travels in the night, when he is asleep, or if 
awake, drowsy and restless. If he journeys by day, 
he may generally be distinguished from those who 
travel for other objects, by his unsocial and retiring 
mood. He is in danger of indulging impatience and 
fretfulness, upon the slightest annoyance from his 
fellows, or from servants who may be more wakeful 
and noisy than himself. Accidents and delays, ex- 
tortions and neglects, are additional occasions of irri- 
tation and complaint. Hence he needs the safeguard 



TRAVELLING. 199 

of a devotional spirit, else he will dishonor his profes- 
sion and misrepresent religion. 

The Christian who travels for other purposes than 
those of business, while he is liable in common with 
the man of business to become the victim of petty vex- 
ations, he is also exposed to temptations from another 
quarter. Among other bad habits he is in danger 
of contracting, are those of indolence. If he is not 
accompanied by acquaintance with whom he may 
pass his time in conversation, he wdll be inclined to 
waste his time in vagaries and reveries. It is now 
that the temj^ter finds easy access to his heart, indu- 
cing him to forget the divine testimonies, and to yield 
himself to the wanderings and soarings of a lawles? 
imagination. Or perhaps he seeks entertainment in 
the circle of the thoughtless and the undevout ; and 
without pondering his path, he familiarizes himself 
with persons unworthy of his society, and becomes 
intoxicated with the cup of levity. Unless he can 
form an acquaintance with some pious or sober- 
minded person, he should engage much of his atten- 
tion in reading his Bible, or some other spiritual or 
intellectual book. While jom-neying in cars or coach- 
es, he may engage his mind in surveying the works 
of nature and art among which he is moving. He 
cannot for an hour look on the variegated landscape 
which turns before his eye, without elevating his 
views of the wisdom, skill, power, and benevolence of 
the earth's great Architect and Supporter. The Chris- 
tian may extract from such scenes themes of serious 
and beneficial meditation. 

He may also use them as occasions of starting se- 
rious conversation. The landscape will oftentimes 



200 TRAVELLING. 

not only suggest the subject, but afford the most hap- 
py illustrations of it. He will meet with worldly men 
who will freely converse with him, and who might 
not be accessible in other circumstances. The only 
time some people of the world allow themselves to 
think seriously is while they are travelling. These 
are golden moments, and if the Christian faithfully 
and judiciously employs them, he may, with the di- 
vine co-operation, make them to some benighted soul 
the dawn of an endless day. 

The Christian traveller should always be watching 
"* for souls. Before setting out he should provide him- 
self with Testaments, tracts, and other evangelical 
books. These he may slip into the hands of such in- 
dividuals as he is not able to converse with, or whose 
convictions he desires to deepen by additional ap- 
peals. His success in this work will depend, next 
to his spirituality, on his courtesy and knowledge 
of the world. He ought always to introduce the 
subject with unobtrusiveness, humility, and gen- 
tleness. He should avoid, as much as passible, sec- 
tarian views and every appearance of cant. Many 
travellers converse on the subject of religion more 
candidly and freely with a stranger, than with their 
most intimate friends, provided the conversation is 
carried on apart from the rest of the passengers. 
The subject of religion should never be introduced 
to one member of a promiscuous circle. If an indi- 
vidual is not disposed to converse with us singly and 
quietly, we should courteously waive the topic. A 
noisy dispute should ever be avoided. A calm dis- 
cussion, however, may be very properly introduced 
among a group of travellers. "When two persons are 



TRAVELLING. 201 

engaged in arguing a question, others should not en- 
ter the lists without leave of the original disputants. 

. Besides the subject of religion, history, biography, 
and anecdote may properly enliven the traveller's 
hours. The men, and events of other countries and 
times may be handled with most safety. He should 
be at peace with himself and all the world ; eschew- 
ing remarks and anecdotes which reflect on the char- 
acter of persons, parties, and sects, as well as ill-hu- 
mored reflections with respect to the institutions, 
manners, and productions of the country he is pass- 
ing through. Most of all, should he shun compari- 
sons of his own country with that in which he is a 
sojourner and a stranger. If he ever speaks of them 
in connection, it should be to allude only to those 
things in which the latter is superior to the former. 
'Nor should he be always complaining how anxious 
he is to retm-n home. Many lessons are contained 
in these lines of Shakspeare : 

" All places that the eye of heaven visits, 
Are to a wise man ports and happy havens." 

When the Christian is travelling in foreign coun- 
tries, he should also be cautious as to the persons to 
whom he allows himself to be introduced, and as 
to the themes on which he converses with them. For 
however laudable may be his purpose in travelling, 
he must consider in what nation he is sojourning, 
whether he may talk freely on all subjects, or wheth- 
er, on the other hand, he may be very reserved on 
certain subjects, without exposing himself to suspi- 
cion, or imprisonment, or death. He must beware 
of prying into political or ecclesiastical abuses, or of 



202 TRAVELLING. 

casting forth, lieavy charges against oppressive or 
otherwise pernicious institutions. As the republican 
who travels in a country governed by a despot, is 
in many cases, especially in revolutionary times, 
beset with informers, he should avoid all intercourse 
with persons who are dissatisfied with the existing 
posture of political afi'airs, or deeply imbued with a 
party spirit. They will request the honor of intro- 
ducing him to their political friends, and of accom- 
panying him in his walks and excursions. They will 
entertain him with philij)pics against "the powers 
that be," and endeavor to engage him on their side. 
"While he is enjoying their hospitalities, his move- 
ments are watched by spies, and in due time he 
bears gens d^armes knocking at his door, bearing or- 
ders for his arrest. Almost every town in continen- 
tal Europe nestles parties and fraternities of malcon- 
tents, who "fret themselves and curse their king and 
their God and look upward," with whom no Christian 
who is a friend either to undefiled religion or to true 
civil liberty, ought to identify himself. 

The northerner who is travelling in the southern 
states, ought not to make inflammatory speeches 
against their peculiar institutions, and should keep 
clear of confidential talks with persons held to ser- 
vice. If the northerner feels it to be his duty to 
assist the slave to escape from his master,'**' he ought 
also to feel it to be his duty to do it boldly and with- 
out concealment. Christians are children of the 
light, and all their conduct should be as open as the 

"^^ To entertain and defend the fugitive, when having escaped, he 
seeks an asylum under our roof, is quite another thing. This is re- 
quired by the Divine law of hospitality. Deut. 23 : 15, 16. 



TRAVELLING. 203 

day. The Christian religion does not, like some of 
the religions of the ancients, require a two-fold 
method of instruction, or any double dealing in prac- 
tice. It is wholly at variance with all guile, even in 
a good cause. The southerner travelling in the 
northern states, should discuss with candor and cool- 
ness the question of slavery, and allow others to make 
as frank an avowal of their principles as he is himself 
permitted to do. 

Too few travellers seem to consider that the right 
and the expediency of a free expression of their opin- 
ions, often meet and become inseparable. For while 
none will deny that we have in general a right to 
declare our opinions, few realize as they ought, that 
they have no right to say what it is inexpedient to 
say. The right of utterance is to be determined by 
persons, times, and places, as well as the subject- 
matter of discussion ; " there is a time for every pur- 
pose under the heaven ; a time to keep silence and a 
time to speak." A person has in general a right to 
give away pearls, but he has not a right — he is di- 
vinely forbidden — to cast them before swine, which 
will trample the gift under their feet and rend the 
giver. 

The pious traveller should not take a female stran- 
ger under his protection, any further than to defend ' 
her against insults — to offer her his hand in alight- 
ing from a stage-coach, and to perform for her other 
common offices of kindness. An officious attention 
to females, of whose character he knows nothing, may 
endanger his reputation. 

The courteous Christian surrenders his seat to any 
one who politely asks for it, or even bluntly demands 



204 TRAVELLING. 

it. He offers it to persons who are too delicate to 
trouble others with their wants. At table he is not 
60 intent on feeding himself as to overlook the wishes 
and rights of others. He is scrupulously honest in 
the matter of his fare, and even submits to extortion 
with an unruffled temper. However thoroughly con- 
vinced that a corporation has no soul, he always re- 
members that he has one. 

When travelling by water, he will on suitable oc- 
casions, unite with others in inviting a clergyman or 
temperance lecturer to address the passengers, and 
if the speaker is an agent of a benevolent society, he 
should slip money into his hand, according to his 
ability, or propose a general contribution to the 
cause he advocates. 

In general, acquaintances formed in travelling are 
expected to end with the journey. 

There is a class of fashionable professors, who mi- 
grate from climate to climate, with almost the regu- 
larity of the feathered tribes ; but unlike them, they 
gladden not the lands they visit with anthems to their 
Maker. In winter they sojourn in the Southern states 
or the West Indies ; in summer they fly to the springs, 
the falls, the mountains, or the sea-shores of the JS'orth. 
Many of these persons travel, not in quest of health ; 
they are as healthy as a life of luxury will permit ; 
not in search of knowledge ; they do not purpose that 
their wanderings shall add to their intellectual stores, 
but for mere novelty and amusement. " They are 
lovers of pleasure" — and is there not reason in too 
many instances to add-^" more than lovers of God." 
They lodge at the largest hotels, and mingle freely 
with the throngs of gayety and gilded vice. For the 



TRAVELLING. 205 

sake of gratifying a sickly vanity, they prefer the 
annoyances and temptations of the fashionable hotel, 
to the quietude and security of the temperance hotel 
or boarding-house, the sound of the viol to the song 
of praise, and the fumes of alcohol and tobacco to the 
incense of prayer. Avowedly members of churches, 
they give few evidences of a spiritual renewal, and 
are almost strangers to systematic benevolence. They 
wander as sheep haA^ing no shepherd, and what is 
worse, they stray from the shepherd and the fold 
without any sense of their danger. The man of the 
world looks uj)on their religion as a peace-offering 
to their consciences, and the man of God regards it 
as an offering of strange fire, which offends Heaven 
and consumes themselves. 

The Christian should never travel for the mere 
gratification of an idle curiosity or a refined taste. 
How far he may indulge these pleasures in connec- 
tion with higher pursuits, must be left to each one's 
own conscience. Were he to travel for pleasure 
only, he would find that it would greatly enhance it 
if at the same time he were to be executing some 
design of benevolence. A mind habitually busy 
with labors of love, will never be at a loss how to 
turn any journey to holy account. His love of souls 
will prevail over his love of art. Howard was en- 
dowed with a thirst for the elegances of life, and a re- 
fined taste in the arts. But what to him were the blan- 
dishments of queens, or the miracles of art, so long as 
there was any real misery to melt his heart, or any 
prisoner to rejoice at his approach ? Every other 
Inferior faculty of his soul bowed before the majesty 
^f his philanthropy. When the apostle Paul visited 



206 TRAVELLING. 

Athens, lie might have indulged his curiosity among 
antiquities, and gratified his taste for the fine arts ; 
he might have laid himself down to meditate, and to 
meditate most profitably and pleasantly too in the 
Porch, the Lyceum, and the Academy. Socrates 
had not lived without the belief of a divine in- 
working influence ; might he not mingle a tear 
with the ashes of the philosophic martyr? Plato 
had discoursed of the immortality of the soul ; might 
he not search after some bust of the great rea- 
soner ? Aristides had won the name of " the Just ;" 
might he not go and contemplate the statue that em- 
bodied an upright soul ? But it was the idols every- 
where meeting his eye that moved his mighty spirit ; 
and as he passed along surveying them, one altar ar- 
rested his attention ; it was an altar with this inscrip- 
tion : "To the unknown God." He was more inter- 
ested in the salvation of the living than in the mon- 
uments of the dead. Our divine Lord had an eye for 
the beauties of art. But when in his boyhood he 
went into the temple, it was not to survey the won- 
ders and splendors of the sacred fabric, as another 
country lad would have done ; he entered its courts 
to do his Father's business. And when in riper 
years he was going out of the temj)le in company 
with his disciples, they would have their Master join 
them in admiring the stupendous structure, exclaim- 
ing : " Master, see what manner of stones and what 
buildings are here !" But his mind glanced away 
from the works of human skill to the approaching 
visitation of an avenging God, when, of all that im- 
mense pile, not one stone should be left upon an- 



TRAVELLING. 207 

Other, and when the city that reposed beneath its 
shadow, would exhibit scenes of famine, blood, and 
woe, which were to have no parallel in the annals of 
mankind. 



CHAPTER Y. 

HOSPITALITY. 

To receive and entertain strangers is a Christian 
duty as well as a dictate of humanity. The man of 
the world cheerfully extends a hospitable hand to 
those who promise to do him honor or afford him en- 
tertainment, and to those who come to him recom- 
mended by their rank, their elegant manners, or 
their pleasing conversation : nay, to the praise of 
whatever is least blighted by the frosts of sin, be 
it said, he sometimes shows the most cordial gene- 
rosity to the unpolished, the unbefriended, and the 
obscure. But the Christian is moved to this duty, 
not merely by the kind impulses of nature, but by 
the dictates of disinterested charity, by the divine 
command, and by those illustrious and unequalled 
patterns of hosj)itality which are exhibited in sacred 
history. These being the objects of his frequent 
contemplation, call forth his admiration and provoke 
to imitation. He observes how well the hospitalities 
which Abraham and Sarah habitually used to all 
strangers, were suited to the heavenly messengers 
they unwittingly entertained f and how courteously 

"^ The Mohammedans have a legend that Abraham was so hospi- 
table, that on one occasion he invited even the Angel of Death to dine 
with him. 



HOSPITALITY. 209 

Lot afterwards received them at the gates of Sodom, 
how respectfully he pressed them when they refused 
his oflers, and how much he proposed to sacrifice to 
their security. ]^or can heJess admire the generos- 
ity and delicacy of the princely Boaz in giving first 
his hospitalities, and then his marriage-vows to the 
widowed and defenceless Ruth, or the kind attentions 
of the noble lady of Shunem to the proj^het Elisha, 
when she invited him to dine at her table whenever 
he passed that way, and caused to be built for him a 
chamber, and placed in it a bed, and a table, and a 
stool, and a candlestick. 

The Christian has most frequent occasion to offer 
his hospitalities to his brethren. To those, no less 
than to others, he should be ever ready to show every 
attention which kindness and propriety can suggest. 
At anniversary and other meetings, when large num- 
bers of them are assembled from distant places, it is 
not to be expected that many of them can come 
bearing letters of introduction to resident brethren. 
The latter, therefore, ought not to stand upon cere- 
mony, but make the first advances to their brethi'en, 
offering them entertainment according to their abil- 
ity. Our Saviour, almost at the beginning of his min 
istry, gave a beautiful instance of this open-hearted 
and informal hospitality. John the Baptist seeing 
Jesus pass by, said to the two disciples who were in 
company with him : " Behold the Lamb of God !' 
whereupon they being desirous of an acquaintance 
with the Messiah, followed him. Christ turning and 
seeing them following him, asked them : " What seek 
ye?" They in turn asked : " Rabbi, where dwellest 
thou ?" He replied, " Come and see." They then 



210 HOSPITALITY. 

accompanied him to his abode, and tarried with him 
the rest of the day."^ A mode of address so brief 
and abrupt, would be in ill-keeping with the inter- 
course of modern society ; nevertheless, it shows us 
the excellence of a frank and unaffected hospitality 
towards strangers and brethren. 

In our search after guests on such occasions, we 
should address ourselves first to the timid, the re- 
tiring, and especially to strangers. We are com- 
manded to be careful to entertain strangers. Men 
are sufficiently ho3j)itable to friends, relations, and 
acquaintance, but they are slow to welcome to their 
homes the unbefriended and the unknown. Hence 
the Christian should prove the impartiality of his 
benevolence, by receiving under his roof the stran- 
ger ; not desiring to boast distinguished and far- 
famed guests, but contented with enjoying the secret 
satisfaction of reflecting that perhaps he has enter- 
tained some angel unawares. Brethren " whose 
praise is in all the churches," will rarely lack offers of 
this kind, and however much you may covet them as 
guests, consider how selfish is that sort of hospitality 
which seeks not to entertain, but to be entertained. 
For such services, if services they deserve to be 
called, no reward is promised. Our Lord does not 
say : Inasmuch as you have done it unto the greatest 
of these my brethren, you have done it unto me. Our 
love to Jesus is best tested by out conduct towards 
" the least" of the brethren. 

There is one case, however, in which duty requires 
us to withhold our hospitalities, even from professors 
of religion. "WTien a person comes into the city, vil- 
'« John 1 : 35-39. 



HOSPITALITY. 211 

lage, or neigliborhood, to advance heretical, vision- 
ary, and pernicious opinions, we may not receive and 
lodge him. To entertain fanatics is to identify our- 
selves with their cause, at least in aj)pearance. To 
have the reputation of encouraging them, even thougli 
we should not design to do it, is injurious to our 
Christian influence. The apostle John in writing to 
" the elect lady and her children," directs them not 
to bid such a godspeed, or suffer them to enter their 
house ; since by so doing they would be viewed as 
" partakers of their evil deeds." 

The pious sti'anger should, unless special reasons to 
be rendered, prevent, accept the first offers made to 
him, especially when made by a poor brother. To 
refuse his invitation, and accept another's afterwards 
made, leaves no very agreeable impression on the 
mind of the person offering the first. 'Nov should he 
be surprised to find those most competent to enter- 
tain him omitting to do so. 

Many persons, " who seem to be somewhat," are 
apparently afraid, by introducing a stranger into the 
interior of their dwellings, to allow him to discover 
what they really are. Others live in so expensive a 
stjle that they cannot afford to lodge a stranger, and 
others are too much at ease to trouble themselves 
with a few civilities. In general the stranger will find 
the truest hospitality among what some are pleased 
to call the middle and lower classes of society. Often- 
times to the invitations of such he may confidently re- 
ply in the words which the lady addressed to Comus : 

" Shepherd, I take thy word 
And trust thy honest offered courtesy. 



212 HOSPITALITY. 

Which oft is sooner found in lowly sheds 
With smoky rafters, than in tapestry halls, 
In courts of princes, where it first was named 
And yet is most pretended." 

The apartments consecrated to hospitality ought 
to be provided with whatever contributes to the com- 
fort of guests. The furniture, however, should 
always be in keeping with the resources of the 
host. People reluctantly take lodgings with one 
w^hose expenditures for their benefit are likely to 
be burdensome to him. 

At the hour appointed for the arrival of our 
friends, we should go out to receive them, and after 
saluting them, take care of their baggage. If the 
guests are strangers bearing letters of introduction, 
or accompanied by our acquaintances, we should re- 
ceive them at the door as soon as it is announced to 
us that they have arrived. If they come in a car- 
riage, we should go out to the street and cordially 
welcome them. To remain within doors, and espe- 
cially to continue seated, when strangers are an- 
nounced, is only allowed to persons of distinction 
and public officers, when persons call on them for 
purposes of business, or on occasions of ceremony. 

To bestow on our guests every kind attention, will 
do more to assure them that they are welcome to 
make our house their home, than all om' declarations 
to that effect. Any neglect of our guests, such as 
resuming our occupations without asking of them 
the liberty to do so, or rendering any excuse for 
such behavior, to entertain them with bad fare aud 
lodgings, and to grudge the loss of time requisite to 
gratify their wishes, will show our guests that our 



HOSPITALITY. 213 

regrets for not being able to entertain tbem better, 
for their early departure, and our urgent invitations 
for another visit, is only the language of dissemblers. 
The rites of refined hospitality require us to show 
our guests whatever is interesting in the city, vil- 
lage, or neighborhood where we reside. But we 
should never direct their attention to any piece of 
furniture, statuary, or painting we may have in our 
house. It belongs to the guests to discover such 
things. It is a poor compliment to the discrimina- 
tion and taste of our guests, as well as to our speci- 
mens of art, to be obliged to point out, eulogize, and 
appraise them. When you are a guest at the house 
of a man who speaks in high terms of his house fur- 
niture, paintings, statues, lands, or other possessions, 
you would betray a want of sensibility not to be inter- 
ested in what pleases him ; if he expresses extrav- 
agant opinions, with respect to them, you need not 
deny his assertions unless he is deceiving himself 
and others in these matters, but point out to him 
such excellences as suggest themselves to you, care- 
fully avoiding assent to what you do not believe to 
be true. Should he ask your opinion of a thing 
upon which he has already passed a too favorable 
judgment, you ought gently to convey to him your 
sincere sentiments, or beg that your ignorance of the 
subject or other reasons may excuse you from com- 
plying with, his request. Parents should avoid ob- 
truding their dear children upon the notice of their 
guests. Hosts may, however, make parties in honor 
of their guests, composed of their relations, and such 
other persons as they may suppose to be agreeable 
to them. 



214 HOSPITALITY. 

"We should not allow our assiduity to our guests to 
become officious. We should not do for them what 
they j)refer to do for themselves ; such as engrossing 
the conversation, instead of leading them into it, 
and advancing our own o]3inions, instead of discuss- 
ing theirs. If we would encourage the bashful and 
make them contented, we should not allow them to 
think they are the objects of our painful anxieties. 
By allowing them to act freely for themselves, we 
shall leave them more at ease, than when they are 
annoyed by our wearisome attempts to please. "We 
should not seek to call forth their applause for us or 
ours, nor drag them about till they are fatigued, only 
that they may see and praise what gives them no 
pleasure. 

If a clergyman is sojourning with us, w^e ought to 
give him time for retirement and study. When he 
has only a few hours to stay with us, after which he 
has jDublic duties to perform, we should not enter 
into a long conversation with him, but after sjDend- 
ing a suitable time in his comj)any, offer to him 
apartments for study, dressing, and repose. It is 
scarce necessary to say that such apartments should 
be secure from intrusion and noise. If we accom- 
pany him to church, we should avoid conversation 
by the way, unless he introduces it. After the ser- 
vice, we should wait for him, and take him home 
with us, offering him refreshments, and permitting 
him to retire early. If it is the custom of the family 
to defer prayers till a late hour, a clergyman who is 
ill, or who has been preaching, should not be asked 
to conduct the exercise of devotion. He would, 
however, rather do it, than witness its omission. 



HOSPITALITY. 215 

Guests, on their part, slionlcl be contented and 
happy. They should not express a wish to be else- 
where, nor show great anxiety about those whom they 
have left at home. They should not express a desire 
for anything they know their entertainers cannot pro- 
cure for them, or which can only be obtained at great 
expense. In conversation, they should eschew cen- 
sures, denominational opinions, and allusions to ab- 
sent persons, except to speak of their virtues. They 
should treat the servants courteously, and upon tak- 
ing leave, if they are wealthy, it is sometimes best to 
make presents to them or the family. 

The entertainer should courteously defer the time 
which his guests have appointed for their departure, 
but if he finds them resolved to take leave, he should 
concern himself in everything that may assist their 
setting out. It is customary to solicit of guests an- 
other and an early visit. 

These directions would be far from complete were 
we not to mention what has already been intimated, 
that those who are used to entertain guests ought not 
to neglect the family altar. Those who have been 
frequently cast upon the hospitalities of their breth- 
ren, must have observed that they have been least 
served and respected in those families which are not 
wont morning and evening to offer to the God of the 
stranger their homage and praise. If they have not 
the disposition or the time to perform this duty 
which they owe to their heavenly Guest, the earthly 
guest cannot hope that they will cheerfully perform 
the more minute and frequent duties they owe to 
himself. And then how grateful it is to the soul of 
the agent, missionary, or other sojourning child of 



216 HOSPITALITY. 

God, to be permitted to swell the band of kindred 
and happj youths, and the domestics, as they gather 
round the family altar, to listen to the sacred oracles, 
to sing a hymn, and bow the knee in heartfelt 
prayer to the Father of all. It is from the services 
of these domestic sanctuaries that the wayfaring 
Christian gains sjDiritual strength for the journeys of 
each successive day. He hails them as fountains 
which are opened along his desert way to refresh 
and gladden his soul. 



CHAPTER YI. 



THE TABLE. 



The usages of tlie table are so various, that a vol- 
ume might be filled with an account of the different 
modes of eating ; and a second volume might be de- 
voted to disquisitions on the merits of each. "We 
shall, however, only give some directions which cus- 
tom requires us to observe. 

When a formal dinner is given, and the persons 
invited are assembled in the drawing-room, a ser- 
vant or some other member of the family announ- 
ces that the dinner is served up. Then the master or 
mistress of the house requests all to walk to the 
dining-room, and leads the way. Each gentleman 
gives his arm to a lady of his own age or rank, con- 
ducts her to the table, and if no direction is giren, 
seats himself by her side. The hostess takes the 
head of the table, and the most honorable gentleman 
is placed at her right hand, the next in honor at her 
left." The host takes the foot of the table, and the 
most honorable lady is placed on his right, and the 
next in honor at his left hand. 

In arranging guests at table, separate as much as 
possible persons of the same profession : clergymen 

29 See Chap. III. on Honor and Precedence. 
K 



218 THE TABLE. 

apart from clergymen, lawyers from lawyers, etc. 
Relations and acquaintance should not be allowed 
to sit together. By such a distribution of the guests, 
the conversation will be more general and interesting. 

When a number of aged people are j)resent, they 
should be seated near one another. Sully in his old 
age, used to dine at the upper end of the hall with 
persons of his own age at a table apart ; giving, as a 
reason for this arrangement, that persons of different 
ages might not be tiresome to each other. 

When the guests are arranged round the table, 
after they are seated, the master or mistress should 
ask a clergyman or some other person to say grace. 
He who performs this duty, should elevate his coun- 
tenance so as not to embarrass the organs of utterance. 
It is rude to commence talking, or serving the guests 
immediately after grace is said. 

At some tables, especially at college commons, it 
is customary for persons who come in late, upon tak- 
ing their places, to cover their faces and say grace 
inaudibly, while their neighbors are in the din and 
hurry of serving themselves and others. What it is 
our duty to do in some circumstances, it is our duty 
to onfit in others ; it may be our duty to pray in a re- 
ligious meeting, but not at the corner of a street. 

It has been the custom for the lady of the house to 
seat herself at the head of the table, and the gentle- 
man at the foot. It is a convenient mode for them to 
sit face to face at the middle of the table. But if the 
party is large and the servants well instructed, the 
master and mistress may leave to them the work of 
carving and of waiting on the guests, sit down indif 
ferently at the sides of the table, throw off the re- 



THE TABLE. 219 

straints of entertainers, and lose themselves among 
the company. 

When the party consists of mutual friends and ac- 
quaintance it would be well to dispense with a nu- 
merous attendance of waiters, and to appoint several 
of the guests to preside over the parts of the enter- 
tainment, or to serve out the various dishes. This 
was the manner of the Greeks even at their larger 
entertainments. Such a subdivision of duties, nearly 
all of which it is our custom to throw upon one per- 
son, ought to be generally adopted among us. It 
would break ujd the formality and unsociableness that 
spoil many of our j^arties ; and it would thin those 
troublesome retinues of household servants, which 
could have been either necessary or proper only in 
feudal times. 

'Not the slightest allusion should be made to the 
merits of any dish upon the table by the entertainers, 
nor to those of any dish not on the table, by any of 
the party. The mistress should make no apologies 
for any dish, or for the fare in general. Neither 
should the master and mistress urge any one to par- 
take of any dish ; it is an insinuation that the person 
urged has not the good breeding to ask for what he 
wishes.^" If one has occasion to ask for a dish, he 
should not say, " I will thank you, or I will trouble 
you for such a thing ;" but say, " Will you please 
help me to such a thing ;" and when he is served, 
say, " I thank you, sir." He should never put forth 
his hand for a dish which is before or beyond his 

30 (£ To press our superiors to eat or drink, is a breach of manners ; 
but a tradesman or a farmer must be thus treated, else it will be dif- 
ficult to persuade him that he is welcome." — Stuift. 



220 THE TABLE. 

neighbor, but ask for it. A gentleman should not 
keep watch of the plate of the lady who sits next to 
him, in order to serve her ; but allow her to ask him 
to serve her to whatever she j^refers. 

Do not use smacks and exclamations, or pronounce 
eulogiums on the excellencies of a dish. Make as 
little noise as possible in chewing. Do not breathe 
hard in eating, or blow, in order to cool your tea, cof- 
fee, or soup, and avoid sucking and sipping while 
drinking. Never pour tea or coffee into a saucer, 
but drink it from the cup. Make no noise with yom* 
knife and fork, never dropping them carelessly upon 
a plate, or the table. Feed yourself with a fork or 
spoon, not with a knife. 

Do not talk much during the first course. Our or- 
gans are so formed that we cannot sj^eak and eat well 
at the same time. If you say anything let it be 
something which does not call for a reply ; never in- 
terrogate a person whose mouth is full. ]N'ever tilt 
your chair back at table, or anywhere else. The 
mistress, by rising first, gives the signal for the whole 
party — or at least all the ladies — to rise. 

When Immanuel was dining with a distinguished 
Pharisee, he said to him : " When thou makest a 
dinner or supper, call not thy friends, nor thy breth- 
ren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbors ; 
lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense be 
made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the 
poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind, and thou 
shalt be blessed ; for they cannot recompense thee." 
This precept not only sets forth in a clear light the 
nature of true benevolence, but strikes at the basis 
of aristocratic exclusiveness, and of castes in society. 



THE TABLE. 221 

It does not rebuke, indeed, the distinctions which 
virtue, knowledge, rank, and wealth have formed 
among men, nor the intercourse of kindred minds, 
but only such perversions of these distinctions as serve 
to nullify the duties of benevolence which are due 
from the higher to the lower classes. The Christian 
does not comply with the spirit of this command who 
to-day gives a dinner to his rich and distinguished 
friends, and to-morrow to his poor and obscure neigh- 
bors. He should on all occasions extend his invita- 
tions alike to the rich and the poor, the high and the 
low. Both ought to be seated round a Christian's 
table at the same time, and without distinction. He 
should not make the indigent and the unhonored con- 
spicuous, by uniformly giving them either the high- 
est or lowest place at his table. Unless he entertains 
them with the same respect he shows to others, it will 
be said of him what Young says of one of the popes : 

"... his courtesies are smoother wrongs. 
Pride brandishes the favors he confers, 
And contumelious his humanity." 

The provision made for the entertainment of par- 
ties, is, among some Christians, more lavish and ex- 
pensive than creditable to their economy and consis- 
tency. In. this respect their extravagance is scarcely 
outdone by the most prodigal votary of fashion. 
Their outlays for such occasions almost always sur- 
pass their resources. Their acquaintance know too 
well that they can ill afford to load their tables with 
such costly delicacies. Some suspect they are wil- 
ling to hazard pecuniary embarrassment, even bank- 
ruptcy itself, so they may only stand in the front 



222 THE TABLE. 

rank of fashion, or appear more wealthy than they 
really are ; others are provoked either to emulate 
their sumptuousness, or pity their improvidence : to 
all who have any sensibility, the enjoyments of the 
occasion are lessened by the reflection that they are 
helping to impoverish their friend, and to prepare 
him to associate with their company the most disa- 
greeable recollections. 

Such expenditures for the gratification of the pal- 
ate, indicate the oj^inion the entertainers have formed 
of the character of their guests. For why should they 
tax all the resources of the butcher, the fowler, the 
fisherman, the baker, the pastry-cook, the confectioner, 
the fruiterer, and the rest, unless to gratify the gor- 
mand ? Why such endeavors to please one of the 
grosser senses, excej^t the party are slaves to it, and 
incapable of relishing rational diversions ? It is really 
more complimentary to one's character to ofi'er him 
a cup of water, than a bottle of liquor, and to spread 
for him the repast of a Cato, than the feast of an 
Epicurus. 

It is no less reputable to the piety than to the re- 
finement of some Christians, that their example dis- 
courages such a pernicious custom. And they are 
supported by some volunteers from the world. 
Among people of fashion free eating and drinking 
are passing out of favor ; and the time is past when 
a gentleman must show his deference and esteem for 
his friend by praising and devouring food in his 
presence, and when he must evince the devotedness 
of his friendship by tumbling down under the table 
with him in oblivious drunkenness. While the chil- 
dren of darkness deem the i3rodigality and luxm*ious- 



THE TABLE. 223 

ness of other times unbecoming modern gentility, it 
ill beseems the child of light to practise any longer 
those indulgences of appetite, and habits of extrava- 
gance, from which even their avowed votaries are 
turning away with lothing and shame. It may well 
excite the sneers of the worldling to see those who 
profess to "hunger and thirst after righteousness," 
making their assemblies occasions of mirthful ban- 
queting, and scenes of inconsiderate profusion, to see 
those whose empty missionary treasuries are sounding 
the knell of whole nations, lavishing upon a single 
fashionable party dainties sufficient to furnish the 
bread of eternal life to hundreds of starving souls. 

Some opulent Christians think state and profusion 
necessary to shield them against the imputation of 
parsimony. But if their beneficence is not equal to 
their means, an appearance of bounty in their dinners, 
suppers, j)arties, equipage, furniture and the like, will 
not preserve their reputation unsullied. The world 
often witnesses the union of luxury and covetousness. 
Sallust says of Catiline, that he was rapacious of what 
belonged to others, prodigal of his own.^^ How dif- 
ferent was the conduct of Bishop Butler. The Rev. 
John N"ewton says that a friend of his once dined 
with the bishop, when, though the guest was a man 
of fortune, and the interview by appointment, the 
provision was no more than a joint of meat and a 
pudding. The bishop apologized for his plain fare, 
by saying that it was his manner of living, and that 
being disgusted with the fashionable expense of time 
and money in entertainments, he was determined it 
should receive no countenance from his example. 

31 Alieni appetens, sui profusus. 



THE TABLE. 



I^or was tliis conduct the result of covetousness ; for, 
large as were his revenues, such was his liberality to 
the poor, that he left at his death little more than 
enough to discharge his debts, and pay for his funeral. 



CHAPTEE yn. 



Christians should observe more plainness and sim- 
plicity in the style of their dress than the people of 
the world are wont to do. It is always regarded an 
indication of an earthly mind to give undue attention 
to dress ; and extravagance in matters of clothing is 
an almost infallible mark of selfishness. Hence 
wherever Christians are observed scupulously to fol- 
low the prevailing fashions, and to rival their worldly 
neighbors in the expensiveness and ostentation of their 
apparel, there will we generally find many a vain 
spirit clothed in moral rags, and the cause of evan- 
gelism but a beggar for the crumbs that fall from the 
tables of the rich, and for the cast-off garments of 
their wardrobe. 

It ill becomes the Christian to dress in the extreme 
of the reigning fashion, or to be in haste to follow a new 
one ; as people of the world do, who generally adopt 
a new fashion for its novelty, and abandon it as soon 
as they are convinced of its absurdity. Yet it is not 
prudent entirely to disregard modes. When a fashion 
is introduced which is likely to prevail, before adopt- 
ing it a Christian should modify it according to his 
figure, size, age, fortune, rank, and most of all to his 
religious character and obligations. Those who are 



226 ■ DRESS. 

so far removed from the vanities of the world as to 
pay no regard to the style of their dress, leaving it to 
shopkeepers and tailors to select and modify the arti- 
cles of their wardrobe, agreeably to their own notions 
of fitness, may, indeed, find themselves clad in con- 
formity with the decrees of fashion, but not with the 
simplicity and dignity of beings who profess to be 
accountable. Even a due concern for the honor of 
religion would lead them to give some attention to 
these matters. 

Plainness in dress is the unvarying fashion of Chris- 
tians. 'No age, rank, or fortune, permits a departure 
from a rule so obvious and important. They should 
shun that richness and fashion on the one hand, and 
that coarseness and singularity on the other, which 
render dress an object of care to the wearer and of 
observation to others. A garment which attracts at- 
tention, never sits easy on the wearer ; if it is odd it 
reflects on his sense and taste ; if too rich it bespeaks 
his prodigality or dishonesty. No Christian ought to 
wear a dress more expensive than his means will 
permit. It is not enough that it is not more elegant 
than that of the class of society to which he belongs. 
Those who violate this rule injm-e their reputation 
and dishonor religion. 

Antiquated fashions should only be followed by 
aged persons, and those of fewer years whom neces- 
sity forbids any other. Old ladies ought to abstain 
from feathers, gaudy colors and jewels. They should 
keep at a distance from the latest fashions. Old 
gentlemen should not wear garments which are tight, 
gay, and fashionable. In general, aged persons 
should aim no higher than ease and neatness. 



DKESS. 227 

Literary men, learned professors, and students 
oiight to avoid a highly fashionable costume. Among 
the literati two quite opposite classes are to be found : 
the one are so slovenly that they could not endure 
themselves, had they time to bestow a thought on 
their physical condition ; the other, from disgust of 
the former, turn fops and exquisites. 

Young ladies should shun costliness and elaborate- 
ness. Kigid simplicity should at all times be respect- 
ed, and any departure therefrom equally reflects upon 
their piety and their taste. Any attempt to improve 
upon the works of divine fingers is arrogance, and 
any attempt to deform them is suicide. 

They should not wear any apparel designed merely 
for display, as ear-rings, and the like. The ears and 
nose are organs which have always defied the aid of 
ornament, and all attempts to embellish them have 
ended in deforming them. We have seen young 
ladies so radiant with the splendors of rings, pins, and 
beads, that they might almost be mistaken for the 
daughters of savages. We have been tempted to wish 
that they might have one other piece of jewelry — the 
fabulous ring of Gyges, which is said to have render- 
ed the wearer invisible. 

The divine command is, " that women adorn them- 
selves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and 
sobriety ; not with broidered hair, or gold, or pearls, 
or costly array." The word of God is explicit on this 
subject. The hair is to be dressed without elaborate 
braiding and curling. This direction excludes the use 
of jewels of gold, pearls, diamonds, and all imitations 
of them, — in short, every kind of extravagance and 
deformity in dress and apparel. 



.228 DRESS. 

Yet ladies are not forbidden to adorn themselves. 
On the contrary, God commands them to adorn them- 
selves with the truest and most valuable jewels. He 
would be understood to mean, that to Christian 
ladies, diamonds, pearls, and gold, are not orna- 
ments. K they were any adornment to their persons, 
surely infinite Goodness would not have forbidden 
their use — ^not he who has adorned the blue sky with 
gems of serenest ray, and made the rippled waters to 
sparkle with every hue of the sunbeam — not He who 
"caused to grow out of the ground," trees not only 
" good for food," but " pleasant to the sight," and has 
left images of beauty wherever his forming fingers 
have passed— not He who, when he would have men 
build Him a tabernacle, gave the most minute di- 
rections with respect to the construction of every 
part of it ; who filled Bezaleel with his Spirit, and 
Aholiab with wisdom, and both with skill to execute 
all manner of cunning workmanship, that along with 
their fellows they might erect a fabric which He 
might fill with the glories of the Shekinah — not He 
who caused the holy garments of Aaron to be made 
"for glory and for beauty." Surely that Perfect 
One, who has shown the heavenliness of his taste in 
all that he has made, and in all that he has bid his 
creatures make, cannot be disj)leased with those who 
form and wear every chaste and innocent ornament. 
Nay, he has condescended to advise them with 
respect to the kind of apparel they should wear. 
It should be "modest." He virtually declares that 
jewels made of the precious stones and metals are 
immodest ornaments, that instead of setting off 
personal charms to advantage, they impair them. 



DRESS. 229 

He insists on the wearing of snch apparel as is 
equally ornamental and honorable to a woman. 
Every article of dress, not in keeping with a chaste, 
humble and unobtrusive mind, is a foul blemish, not 
only upon the person, but the character of her who 
wears it. A strong passion for jewelry is commonly 
associated with others less reputable. The cruel 
and idolatrous Jezebel was seen just before her in- 
glorious death, sitting at a window with attired head 
and painted face. King Solomon looking through a 
casement in the evening, recognized a harlot by her 
glittering attire, and heard her enticing a young man 
by telling him of her bed covered with tapestry, with 
carved work, with fine linen of Egypt. The prophet 
Isaiah describes the Jewesses of his day, as joining 
haughtiness, vanity and wantonness, with great ex- 
travagance in jewelry and dress. He predicted con- 
cerning them what was afterwards fulfilled, that they 
should exchange their health for disease, their luxu- 
riant hair for baldness, their perfumes for stench, 
their robes for sackcloth, their girdles for rents, their 
beauty for ugliness, and their honor for infamy. 

From the earliest times to the present day, a pro- 
fusion of jewelry has been regarded as the badge of 
prostitution, and the symbol of an impure mind. 
And though many virtuous and pious ladies have 
worn jewels, let it not be supposed that they did so 
in compliance with their own taste and sense of pro- 
priety. They did it, we ought to have the charity to 
think, in blind and unquestioning obedience to the 
laws of fashion. But if some of the great and the 
good have worn jewelry, it is nevertheless true that 
it is in general the insignia of unchastity and shame- 



230 DRESS. 

lessness. Such was the united judgment of the in- 
spired apostles, Paul and Peter. They always set 
jewelry in opposition to chastity, humility and be- 
neficence ; the former contrasting gold and pearls, 
broidered hair and costly array with sobriety, shame- 
facedness and good works ; the latter plaiting the 
hair and wearing gold, with a meek and quiet spirit. 
They thought them hostile to those true adornments 
which are expressive of the modesty, simplicity, and 
gentleness of the heart. Indeed they seem to have 
deemed all ornaments as scarce worthy the name, 
when compared with those of the mind ; and pure vir- 
tues, and holy graces, prompting corresponding man- 
ners, ornaments of such costliness and brilliance as to 
cast all other decorations into obscurity, and to shame 
the doubtful glitter of gold, diamonds and pearls. 

The apostles were, no doubt, protesting against a 
form of extravagance then j^revalent among Asiatic, 
Greek, and Poman w^omen. In ancient statues, med- 
als, and bas-reliefs, are seen the braided and plaited 
tresses and excess of ornament which Peter and Paul 
interdict. Yirgil delicately hits off the passion of 
the Poman women for decorations of gold, in the 
character of his heroine Camilla. He describes her 
as pursuing over the field of battle a Trojan chief 
who wears a golden helmet; a golden bow swings 
from his shoulders, a knot of gold collects the folds 
of his cloak, and the caparison of his horse is wrought 
with brass and gold. She 'purposes to slay him and 
adorn herself with the golden spoils, but loses her 
life in the attempt. Nor does this passion for adorn- 
ing with this shining metal, appear to have been al- 
together peculiar to heathen females. Jewish ladies 



DRESS. 231 

are said to have worn golden coronets on their heads 
in the form of the city of Jerusalem. The apostles, 
as we have said before, regarded this kind of ap- 
parel as indicative of a light and impure mind. They 
express nearly the same opinion that Plutarch quotes 
from Crates. He says, "^N^either gold, nor emeralds, 
nor pearls, give grace and adornment to a woman ; 
but those things which clearly set off her gravity, de- 
corum, and modesty." But, though these apostolic 
prohibitions -^qtq jpriinarily intended for another age 
and another . hemisphere, they were not intended 
solely for these. They are aj)plications of certain 
general principles, which are to guide pious females 
of all times and lands. 

First : they forbid every fashion and article of 
dress which is an indication of iimnodesty^ and is cal- 
culated unduly to attract the notice of the other sex. 
To what extent women may aim at pleasing in such 
matters, must be left to each one's own conscience. 
It is very difficult to decide what is the safe medium 
in every case. Tertullian advises a neat simplicity : 
yet Horace confesses that it was by this that his 
faithless mistress had ensnared him ; and Ovid says 
that men in general are captivated by neatness. 
Ben Jonson declares his preference for a negligent 
simplicity. He sings : — 

" Give me a look, give me a face 
That makes simplicity a grace ; 
Robes loosely flowing, hair as free ; 
Such sweet neglect more taketh me 
Than all the adulteries of art, 
They strike my eye, but not my heart." 

These instances show that the impression made on 



232 DRESS. 

the mind of the beholder bj any style of dress, must 
depend more or less on his taste ; and that in avoid- 
ing what is too atti-active to one class, women are in 
danger of adopting what is equally attractive to 
another. Thus much may be said, that when their 
dress is strictly expressive of their piety and virtue, 
they are not responsible for the impression it makes 
on corrupt minds. The style which seems to combine 
decorum with the least liability to temptation, is that 
of blended simplicity and neatness. 

Secondly : these apostolic wi-iters forbid vanity in 
dress — whatever in material or workmanship, color 
or figure, or mode of wearing, denotes or fosters a 
proud, ostentatious, or haughty spirit. Effectually 
to prevent vanity in dress as in anything else, w^e 
must begin at its source in the heart. It is a just ob- 
servation of Addison, that " Foppish and fantastical 
ornaments are only indications of vice, not criminal 
in themselves : extinguish vanity in the mind, and 
you naturally retrench the little suj)erfluities of gar- 
niture and equipage. The blossoms will fall of them- 
selves, when the root that nourishes them is de- 
stroyed." 

Thirdly: they forbid expensiveness in garments 
and ornaments, including such as require a great 
deal of time with the needle or in the dressing-room. 
It seems to have been generally taken for granted, 
hitherto, that the apostles do not prohibit costly ves- 
tures and jewelry to the great and the rich. Some 
popular commentators go so far as to recommend to 
such persons the wearing of these, in order that it 
may thereby give employment to the poor. It is 
plain, however, that every vice might be defended on 



DRESS. 233 

the same ground. But no rank or wealth can pro- 
cure divine license for indulging extravagance in 
dress, jewelry, equipage, or any other thing which is 
to be consumed upon themselves. As to those wlio 
wear, or cause to be worn, extravagant insignia of 
royalty or badges of office, they are morally account- 
able whenever they are principals or accessaries in 
procuring them. The Gospel morality does not sanc- 
tion extravagant expenditure, except in gifts to the 
cause of the Redeemer. Here they are not only in- 
nocent but highly commendable, if they are only 
prompted by evangelical love, contrition, humility, 
and gratitude. If any one finds fault with this doc- 
trine, let him remember that Judas also complained 
of the disposal Mary made of an alabaster vase of 
costly ointment. 

Li this view we must conclude that the apostles 
did not condemn ^merely the wearing of " gold," 
*' pearls," or "broidered hair," or any specific kind 
of costly array ; for a person can easily, and without 
being at all unfashionable, perhaps, abstain from all 
the things specified by them, and at the same time, 
violate all three of the foregoing principles, by put- 
ting on articles and adopting styles of dress which 
are not expressly designated in the Scriptures. It 
is evident, therefore, that they did not intend to par- 
ticularize every possible form of vice in dress, but to 
furnish tests by which every one may be detected. 

There are certain cases where it is our duty to lay 
apart or put on such ornaments, as in other cases it 
would be allowable to wear or put off. We must, in 
things indifferent, respect the conscientious scruples 
of our fellow-disciples, and it is judicious, in such 



234 DRESS. 

matters to give way to the current prejudices of a 
nation, city, village, or neighborhood. 

In all matters of dress, every monition of chastity 
ought to be strictly heeded. She is the oracle of 
God in the sanctuary of woman's heart. Would 
that she were more often consulted by the inventors 
of fashions ; would that every woman of unsullied 
fame might listen to her slightest whisper — whispers 
which, if not instantly heeded, are seldom heard 
more. Would that she might flee, as the most 
dreadful enemy to her honor and peace, every 
fashion that aims at any exj^osure of her person. 
"Who can number the multitudes of virtuous and 
hopeful daughters who have been ruined by fash- 
ions less destructive than those reigning at the 
present hour — fashions that would blush at the sight 
of some modern modes, but which nurtured the na- 
tive pride and vanity of the heart, and tempted even 
the virtuous of the other sex to take liberties which, 
but for these tacit invitations to impertinence, their 
imaginations could never have suggested to them. 
It is hard for some mothers to deny their daughters 
those liberties in dress which every young lady of 
their age and rank is permitted to indulge. But tell 
me, thou broken-hearted mother, is it not more hard, 
more bitter to think of the fate of that daughter 
whom your indulgence has ruined, and who has 
fixed on your name and the honor of your family an 
ineffaceable stain of pollution. Christian matrons, 
break away from the charms of that immodest god- 
dess, who yearly leads thousands to an infamous 
destiny. Let your maternal authority command 
your daughters, and teach their own consciences to 



DRESS. 235 

rule, and their own modest feelings to advise tliem ; 
let your own example allure tliem ; praj for them. 
After you have performed these bounden duties, 
tremble for them ; for many a vain girl, it is with 
j^ain we say it, after receiving the timely admonition 
and the tearful entreaty of her mother, has still 
gloried in her shame, and is now repeating the 
lament of the fabulous stag who was proud of his 
antlers : " Ah, unhappy creature that I am ! I am 
too late convinced that what I prided myself in has 
been the cause of my undoing ; and what I so much 
disliked was the only thing that could have saved 
me."^" 

Some scrupulously eschew the prevailing modes, 
however superior they may be to former ones, in 
point of decorum and taste. But to shun fashion 
altogether is superlative folly, for the more we affect 
to disregard dress, the more must we of necessity 
give our attention to it ; and the more we affect to 
hide our pride under an odd exterior, the more do 
we proclaim it to all the world. There is no sanc- 
tion for such conduct in the life of our perfect Exem- 
plar. On the contrary, he rebuked the singularity 
of the Pharisees in such matters. We have every 
reason to conclude that the wisdom and taste which 
appeared in all his actions induced him to adoj)t the 
prevailing fashions with those modifications which 
his office and circumstances would suggest. For 
him to have dressed singularly and shabbily, had it 
produced no worse consequences, would at least have 

^^ " ! me infelicem ! qui nunc demum intelligo 
Ut ilia mihi profuerint, quse despexeram, 
Etquae laudarem quantum luctus habuerint ! — Phjedbus. 



286 DKESS. 

sullied the piety of those women who followed him 
from place to j^lace to listen to his discom-ses. That 
they were attentive to his necessities has never been 
questioned ; their hands were often open and busy, 
to minister to his personal comfort ; they bedewed 
his footsteps with their tears as he bore his cross to- 
wards Golgotha, and waited round him, when he suf- 
fered thereon ; were last at the sepulchre on the night 
of his burial ; and first there with sj)ices on the morn- 
ing of his resurrection. And the name of one of 
them who had been lavish of her attentions to his 
personal appearance, he bade his disciples hand 
down to the remotest generations. The seamless 
tunic of our Divine Lord was no worthless garment, 
else the beloved disciple would not have described it 
so particularly, and the soldiers would not have 
united in saying : " Let us not rend it, but cast lots 
for it, whose it shall be." 

The consciences of some have arrived at such a 
pitch of refinement, that they can scarcely endure 
the sight of anything in dress except coarseness. 
They seem to think that vital godliness is insepar- 
able from garments of camel's hair, leathern girdles, 
sheep-skins, and goat-skins. They forget that those 
martyrs and confessors, " of whom the world was not 
worthy," did not make it a point of duty to live in 
2)0verty and homeliness. They made it no virtue to 
submit to what they could not avoid ; nor did they 
deem their miserable situation especially pleasing to 
God ; for it was the enemies of God who drove them 
from their homes, and left them to languish in dis- 
comfort and wretchedness. It is not saying too 
much of them, that their great souls were not occu- 



DKESS. 237 

pied in contriving how tliey might differ from the 
rest of mankind in the form, texture, and material of 
their dress. Were they living in our day, they 
would show the same pious magnanimity in palaces 
which they then did in caves. Their dress, as that 
of all Christians should, conformed to their necessi- 
ties and the fashions of the times. 

Christians ought to shun affecting devoutness and 
gravity by the form or size of their vestiu-es ; it is a 
violation of humility and simplicity. Religious os- 
tentation is always disgusting, never more so than 
when it shows itself in dress. Our Lord reproved 
the pompous Pharisees for this : " All their works," 
said he, " they do to be seen of men ; they make 
broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of 
their garments." 

The dress proper to be worn in a Christian congre- 
gation should be marked by plainness and simplicity. 
Spanish ladies always wear to church a black dress 
and veil. The solemnity of the occasion, the char- 
acter of the assembly, and the state of our minds, 
require us to avoid a rich, elaborate, brilliant or 
showy costume. Those j)i'ofessors who violate this 
rule, do not fail to awaken in some minds such re- 
flections as those of Cowper : 

" A heavenly mind 
May be indifferent to her house of clay, 
And slight the hovel as beneath her care, 
But how a body, so fantastic, trim, 
And quaint in its deportment and attire, 
Can lodge a heavenly mind— demands a thought." 

The body of the Christian, which is the temple of 



238 DRESS. 

the Holy Ghost, is profaned when dressed with the 
tawdriness of the fop, or the coquet. It is as if the 
simple magnificence of Solomon's temple were set 
off \\dth the tinselled baubles of pagan superstition. 



CHAPTER Yin. 

VISITS AND CALLS. 

When jour former pastor, or any other clergyman 
of your acquaintance arrives in the city, village or 
neighborhood where you reside, it is your duty to 
make him the first visit, unless he comes to the place 
for the purpose of visiting you, when you should go 
and receive him from his conveyance, and accompany 
him to your residence. You should also observe the 
same usage in the reception of all other persons. 
"When a clergyman is informed that a clergyman of 
his acquaintance has arrived in the city, village or 
neighborhood, he should call on him immediately. 
If from ill health or other causes, he cannot call on 
him, he should send him an early invitation to visit 
him at the parsonage. 

In making visits of ceremony we remember the 
intervals of returning them, and to whom they are to 
be returned. In these, as in all other visits, consider 
at what hour others can most conveniently receive 
them. In general, visits of ceremony are made be- 
tween the hours of twelve and five ; each visit occu- 
pying a quarter of an hour, or less. 

When you make a visit of congratulation to a 
friend who has been chosen to some civil or eccle- 



240 VISITS AND CALLS. 

siastical office, congratulate not him, but the state or 
the church, on account of the prosperity pledged to 
it by the election. 

When you call at a house bearing a letter of intro- 
duction, send it up to the person to whom it is ad- 
dressed, and give him time to read it before you ap- 
pear in his j^resence. For the person to compel you 
to wait long would be discourteous. 

In making a call, always send up your name to the 
person you desire to see, and wait till the servant re- 
turns with his orders : if he informs you that the 
person is not at home, leave immediately. Christians 
should avoid sending their servants to the door to say 
that they are " not at home," when they are at home. 
If all understood the fashionable import of the phrase, 
its use would be perfectly harmless, but since they 
do not, it is an abuse of language which is liable to 
become a snare to the conscience. A pious lady re- 
siding in the District of Columbia, once related to 
the author an incident occurring in her own family, 
which induced her to resolve never again to encour- 
age the use of this phrase. One morning while en- 
gaged in domestic matters, a lady rang the bell, and 
no servant being at hand, she sent her little son to 
the door. He opened the door, and said to the lady, 
" Mamma says she is not at home." The word " en- 
gaged" is now generally, and very proj)erly substi- 
tuted. 

If you call on a clergyman, do not interrupt his 
studies by calling in the morning, or at a time when 
it is understood he is professionally employed. If 
possible, call at the parsonage on that day and in 
that part of it, which he has allotted to receiving 



VISITS AND CALLS. 241 

visits. But when important business demanding 
immediate attention is to be transacted with him, 
you may call on him at any time, promptly present 
the object of yom- call, and when it is executed re- 
tire. When you find him engaged with other per- 
sons, do not call him aside and enter into a long 
conversation, but wait till he is relieved from other 
and previous engagements. Speak of the most im- 
portant matters first ; afterwards, if you have time, 
you may talk on other subjects, that when another 
person is announced, you may immediately rise and 
retire : should the person calling be your acquaint- 
ance, do not stop to talk with him, but merely salute 
him when you rise to take leave. Let punctuality 
and despatch mark all your engagements with men 
of business, professional men, and public officers. 

Friendly calls are made at almost all hours and 
without much ceremony. In these some freedom is 
allowable, but no familiarity. Be careful not to 
dress more richly than those whom you visit. In 
town a friendly call should never exceed an hour ; in 
the country it varies according to local usages. Let 
none presume that long visits and calls are necessary 
to preserve friendships : " withdraw thy foot from 
thy neighbor's house ; lest he be weary of thee and 
so'hate thee." Prov. 25 : 17. 

When on taking leave, any one offers to accompany 
you to the door, excuse him, but if he persists, yield 
with a bow of thanks. Always accompany your 
guests to the door, unless you are an officer, or other 
public person, when you may excuse yourself. 

J^ever be seen in a house with your hat on your 
L 



242 VISITS AND CALLS. 

head, unless you are near the street door, nor then if 
a lady or other superior is accomj)anying you to the 
door. Though requested to j)ut on your hat before 
going out, do it not until the moment you take leave. 



CHAPTER IX. 

SUNDAY VISITING. 

The fourth precept to the Decalogue implies an 
abstinence not only from all labor and business, but 
also from all secular amusements and pleasm'es. 
Were this day intended to be observed merely as a 
season of bodily renovation and repose, then what- 
ever could contribute to this object would be allow- 
able. But it is especially for the benefit of the weary 
and enslaved soul that this day is ordained to be hal- 
lowed. If we examine Isaiah's exposition of this 
command, we shall find it requires us to abstain 
from every thought, word and action, which affords 
gratification to a worldly mind : "If thou turn away 
thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure 
on my holy day ; and call the sabbath a delight, the 
holy of the Lord, honorable ; and shall honor him, 
not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own 
pleasure, nor speaking thine own words ; then shalt 
thou delight thyself in the Lord ; and I will cause 
thee to ride upon the high places of the earth and 
feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father ; for 
the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."^^ 

Some respect as holy time only that part of the 

83 Isa. 58 : 13, 14. 



241 SUNDAY VISITING. 

sabbatli wliich is usually set apart for public worship. 
It is long after the sun has cast his rejoicing beams 
on their habitations, that they rise to improve his 
light. And instead of invoking grace to qualify 
them for enjoying the blessings attendant on the sa- 
cred day, they commence it with laying schemes of 
amusement. The morning, which ought to have been 
employed in devout reading, meditation, and prayer, 
is passed in gossiping, in visiting, or in receiving 
their friends. At the appointed hour, they re^^air to 
the house of the Lord, with no other preparation for 
public worship than that which frivolous and secular 
conv^ersation can make. As they go to church with- 
out spirituality, they derive no spiritual improvement 
from the services. The worship seems unmeaning 
and tedious ; the minutes are long, because they do 
nothing but measure them. They wait with impa- 
tience the close of the service, and receive with pleas- 
ure the benediction which allows them to escape the 
blessings it invokes. They hurry home, or to the 
house of their neighbor, to finish the day as it was 
begun. 

It seems as though these professors regarded the 
services of the sanctuary an irksome task, which 
must needs be rewarded by pastime — as a self-denial 
wliich ought to be compensated with some low self- 
gratification. If their conduct be any exposition of 
their faith, they cannot believe a heaven of devotion 
to be a heaven of enjoyment. 

When the Christian's friends or relations visit him 
on the sabbath, the state of his mind and his religious 
duties forbid him to receive them with the same cor- 
diality, and pay them the same attentions as he 



SUNDAY VISITING. 245 

would upon any other day. He should, however, 
treat them respectfully, and exhibit no impatience 
towards them for intruding on his hours of sacred 
rest. He should not talk on secular topics, but try 
to confine the conversation to the subject of religion. 
He should not offer them the entertainment they 
might reasonably ex2:)ect on a week-day. He should 
strictly observe his* regulations for family prayer and 
instruction, and when the hour of public worship ar- 
rives, he should rise as usual, and invite his guests 
to accompany him to church if they have not previ- 
ously intimated to him another engagement. By 
resolutely withholding his mind from earthly cares 
and vanities, and allowing nothing to interrupt the 
sacred duties of the day, he will at length either con- 
vince them of the superiority of his enjoyments to 
theirs, or induce them to spend their sabbaths in the 
company of those whose conduct is more soothing to 
a restless conscience. 

When a stranger is receiving his hospitalities during 
Sunday, the Christian ought to ofier to go with him 
to any church he may prefer. If special engage- 
ments render it necessary for him to go to his own 
place of worship, he should mention it to his guest, 
and offer to go with him as far as the door of the 
other church, and if he takes him in a carriage, 
he should offer to return that way after the service 
and take him home. "When the distance is short his 
guest should decline this offer, and return on foot. 

Some kind Christians never think of visiting the 
sick till Sunday arrives. To visit them on that day 
is, in most instances, required neither by necessity 
nor mercy. Sick persons living near church usually 



246 SUNDAY VISITING. 

after the morning service, receive many fatiguing and 
vexatious calls. Annoyance apart, to visit the sick 
or the sound on Sunday, is not so strong a mark of 
friendship as to yisit them on a week-day. 

It is profaning the Lord's day to devote its hours 
to employments, for which we cannot afford to spare 
any portion of the rest of the week. It is to set a 
higher value on our time than on that of the Creator 
and the Saviour, is to esteem our bodies of more worth 
than our souls, and to gratify our own seliSshness at 
the expense of God's honor ; in a word, it is robbery 
in the first degree. 

If the captive Psalmist was not mistaken when he 
said, " A day in thy courts is better than a thousand," 
what do they lose who spend their Sundays in visit- 
ing ? When the emperor Titus, recollecting one even- 
ing that he had done no act of beneficence during 
the day, exclaimed, " Oh, my friends, I have lost a 
day !" he might have comforted himself with the 
resolution of being doubly bountiful on the morrow. 
But what ought to be the exclamation of one who has 
lost a day, which no subsequent diligence can redeem 
and no repentance recall ? 



CHAPTEE X. 



VISITING THE SICK. 



The Christian does not need to be convinced that it 
is his duty to visit and comfort the sick. The dic- 
tates of humanity, friendship, and brotherly love no 
less than the precepts of his religion require such 
visits. A few hints, relative to the manner of per- 
forming this duty, may be of some use to the inexpe- 
rienced. 

When your relative, friend, or acquaintance, is very 
sick, either visit him or send a servant to him daily. 
But if the disease is chronic and not dangerous, daily 
visits or inquiries are not required. You should ask 
the servants whether you may be permitted to see and 
speak to the sick person ; if not, obtain what infor- 
mation you are able from them, and take leave. 
!N^ever go into a sick-room without asking admittance. 

After the first visit, which should be made at the 
earliest opportunity, you should make subsequent 
calls at an hour most convenient for the sick person. 
Approach a sick-room with a soft and careful step. 
If you are informed who his physician is, say nothing 
to his prejudice, nor give your advice concerning 
physicians and remedies. If you perceive that the 
invalid is melancholy or needlessly alarmed, be calm 
and cheerful, but do not tax him with timidity or 
attempt to cure his melancholy by merriment. 



248 VISITING THE SICK. 

In general make no allusion to death in a sick-room. 
Some are natm-ally fond of gloomy themes ; they 
seem to have been cradled in coffins, and to have 
learned the alphabet from epitaphs. Purely to gratify 
this disposition, and not from any concern for the 
soul or the body, they recount to the sick all the mal- 
adies with which their capacious memories are stored 
and fill the imaginations of the nervous and the 
feeble with the most appalling images of disease and 
death. If, however, you are called uj)on to deal with 
an invalid, who has a stupefied conscience, it may be 
your duty to show him clearly his alarming condition, 
and exhort him to prepare for the judgment. But 
you will not unfrequently find unconverted persons 
on the sick bed, greatly concerned for their eternal 
welfare. When the dying man was in health the 
words of warning might not have reached his heart ; 
but how can he now turn away from a subject which 
is to him of infinite consequence ? While he seems 
to himself an immortal being, about to be driven off 
the shores of earth, with no pilot to direct his voyage, 
let the Christian improve the golden moment; let 
him hold up before the sick one the blood-stained 
cross, and kindly bearing his trembling and emacia- 
ted arms round it, encourage him to cleave to it as to 
that which alone can buoy up his soul as it passes the 
sullen flood. 

When a valetudinary is complaining of his ails, do 
not observe to him that you have the same indisposi- 
tion, or a worse, or that everybody is now complain- 
ing of the epidemic. It is as if you should say that 
though you are as sick as he, you are too magnani- 
mous to regard it, and that though others are 



VISITING THE SICK. 249 

suffering as severely as he, nobody lias so little for- 
titude. 

Do not remark to the lame, blind, or other infirm 
persons, that people come at length to forget their 
misfortunes, that afflictions, after being long borne, 
become light, and almost cease to be considered as 
such. However true this doctrine may be, it affords 
no consolation to these unhappy persons. Besides, 
you are taking from their mouths sentiments which 
you ought to allow them the honor of expressing. 

If a person is afflicted with imperfect sight, j)lace 
the objects you wish him to see at a proper distance 
from him. Do not seem to admire or point at dis- 
tant sights and prospects in the presence of a near- 
sighted person. When conversing with one who is 
partly deaf, moderate your voice so as to be distinctly 
heard ; but do not scream in his ear, or show impa- 
tience if he fails to hear you. 

"When a friend or relative is on his death-bed, be 
not officiously attentive to him ; show no affectation 
of compassion for him, or try to convince him that 
he cannot afford to dispense with your presence and 
care. Especially ought you to heed this caution, 
when there is reason to hope the person will make 
you a bequest. Leave such an one to his own judg- 
ment, if he have one, in the choice of his nurses and 
attendants. Let all your behavior toward him be 
such as not to give occasion for the insinuations of 
disappointed ^.xpectants. The fabulist tells us that 
several w^olves once came to the stable where an old 
ass lay sick, ur-der the pretence of making him a 
friendly visit ; rapping at the door and asking how 



250 VISITING THE SICK. 

he did, a young ass came out and told them his 
father was much better than they desired. 

The sick, on their part, should distinctly yet frank- 
ly describe their symptoms when the physician asks 
them to do so. They should express their gratitude 
to him for his care, even when he has failed to effect 
a cure. When friends visit them, they should not, 
if possible, appear insensible to their presence, or 
chide them for not visiting oftener. They should 
not talk much of their infirmities to those who visit 
them, but converse on some cheerful theme. 

The sick should endure with meekness and forti- 
tude the treatment of those who uj^braid them as the 
authors of their own ills. Howbeit this requires 
more than " the patience of Job." Mr. Censor is of 
the opinion that all our sickness is the consequence 
and the punishment of our own sins. He once said 
to a sick acquaintance : " Ah, sir, had you followed 
my advice, you would never have been in this sad 
case. I have rej^eatedly told you that this would be 
the issue of yom- imprudent habits ; at least, I thought 
so. I have been expecting this : I do hope that if 
you ever recover — I fear you will not — ^you will not 
expose yourself to another such chastisement of your 
follies." The imaginations of the sick are sufficiently 
active in surmising the causes of their illness. To 
add to these gloomy, and, it may be, false suspicions, 
is often cruel, and sometimes dangerous : 

" For oh ! to be unhappy, 
And to know ourselves alone the guilty cause 
Of all our sorrow, is the worst of woes." 



CHAPTEE XI. 

VISITING THE POOE. 

The visits of the rich are too generally confined to 
their equals. Among them are many who maintain 
a friendly intercourse and punctually exchange their 
civilities with their own class of society, but who do 
not so much as dream of calling at the humble, and 
it may be forbidding, cottages of the poor. ]N"ot sel- 
dom, there are indigent persons living in the same 
street, and members of the same church or congrega- 
tion with themselves, whom they never visit, and of 
whose condition they are utterly ignorant. 

ISTow in order to acquaint ourselves with the cir- 
cumstances of these persons, no formal introduction 
will commonly be found necessary. The poor are 
willing to dis]3ense with the rules of refined life, if 
they may only be permitted to welcome to their 
needy hearths some generous almoner of the Divine 
bounty. And access to them will be the more easy 
when they ascertain that he belongs to the same 
household of faith with themselves. It is highly im- 
portant in such visits to learn the real condition of 
the poor. He may obtain the requisite information 
from some of their acquaintance, or he may be able, 
if he avoid intimating to them the object of his visit, 



252 VISITING THE POOR. 

to obtain from tlieir own lips the simple story of their 
poverty. Some knowledge of their morals, as well 
as their miseries, will enable him to bestow his char- 
ities on those who would not pervert them to their 
own hurt. If the almsgivers of our large towns 
would take the trouble to visit the poor whom they 
desire to relieve, they would materially diminish the 
gains of a class of rogues, who, taking advantage of 
the indiscrimination and carelessness of the benevo- 
lent, drive a lucrative business by street-begging. 

But it is not mere pecuniary aid that will always 
afford the most substantial relief to the poor and the 
afflicted whom he may visit. The visitor of the poor, 
should always have in his possession Testaments and 
tracts to distribute among them. These will, w^ith the 
divine blessing, sometimes be to them as a prize drawn 
for an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance in 
paradise. Kind and timely advice may occasionally 
direct them to employments and expedients which 
will materially improve their condition. Many of 
this class have but little of that thrift which is often 
found among those who do not particularly need to 
practise it. Some who are suffering from bereavement, 
solitude, disappointment or bankruptcy, will be grate- 
ful for the sympathies and counsels of the Christian. 
By visiting sach, and showing a tender solicitude for 
their temporal and spiritual welfare, he will some- 
times accomplish more than all the wealth of the West 
could effect. 

jSTor should we turn coolly away from the bolts and 
walls of prisons, hospitals, and alms-houses. It is too 
often presumed that the miserable inmates of these 
places are sufficiently comfortable under the care of 



VISITIXG THE POOR. 253 

their keepers, and the patronage of the state. It is 
sometimes said the poor-laws provide that the benev- 
olent may not always have the poor with them, and 
that the penurious may not be moved to compassion 
by witnessing individual want and suiFering. In 
large towns, however, such institutions seem to be 
almost indispensable. The state can rarely be charg- 
ed with making scanty provisions for the comfort and 
reformation of paupers, invalids, and convicts. The 
danger is that these provisions will be diverted from 
their proper channel. The public can never dispense 
with the vigilant and benevolent labors of private 
individuals. It will always leave much with respect 
to the social, intellectual, and moral condition of the 
poor and the suffering to the exertions of the philan- 
thropic Christian. Let him never visit these insti- 
tutions without gaining admission to the very pres- 
ence of the guilty and the wretched ; let him incline 
his ear to the story of their crime and their sorrow; 
he will learn that from it which will warn and in- 
struct him, while it will enlarge the purest sympathies 
of his soul. Let him talk to them of Immanuel who 
preached the gospel to the poor, and made them his 
intimates, and who could deign to pardon the thief, 
and bear him comj)any to paradise. 

In visiting these public institutions, as well as pri- 
vate families, the Christian will find many opportu- 
nities favorable to religious conversation. Among no 
other class of persons may he so openly declare that 
his citizenship is in heaven as among the victims of 
poverty and crime. If he start serious topics in the 
company of the gay and the fashionable, he may ex- 
pose himself to the charge of being a wild and mis- 



254 VISITING THE POOR. 

guided zealot ; but he will not often find them to be 
unwelcome to the jDOor, the afflicted, and the convict. 
The heart of the indigent is especially res})onsive to 
the appeals of the gospel. " Hath not God chosen the 
poor of this world rich in faith ?" 

If Christians of wealth would devote some of their 
time to such visiting, they would receive abundant 
returns for their benevolent exertions. They would 
gain a most valuable fund of knowledge, with re- 
spect to those classes of society on which adversity has 
laid his pitiless hand, while they would return to their 
homes more grateful to Infinite Goodness for the 
conveniences and luxm-ies they enjoy, and less dis- 
posed to murmur at the allotments of providence. It 
would serve to break the languor and monotony of 
life ; opening those fountains of benevolent sensibil- 
ity, which unbroken prosperity is so liable to dry up. 
They would also be convinced of the transitoriness of 
human fortune. BeholdiDg some of the children of 
the great and the rich, the victims of crime and in- 
digence, they would give more heed to the moral cul- 
ture of their sons and daughters, and learn to say with 
Job : " Thou destroy est the hope of man : thou chang- 
est his countenance and sendest him away. His sons 
come to honor and he knoweth it not ; and they are 
brought low and he perceiveth it not." They would 
see the folly of trusting in riches, which take to them- 
selves wings and fly away, and be induced to exclaim, 

" What numbers, once in fortune's lap high-fed, 
Solicit the cold hand of charity !" 



OHAPTEE Xn. 

THE SIMPLICITY OF TRUE BENEFICENCE. 

Of those three Bister goddesses, the Graces, some 
Greek writers siij)posed the first to represent a gift be- 
stowed, the second a gift received, and the third a 
gift repaid. And all must allow that if they had 
been competent to teach ns to confer, accept, and re- 
ciprocate favors with propriety, they would have been 
what the ancients loved to imagine they were, the 
inspirers of all that is charming in deportment. 

IN'othing is more beautiful than the unadorned and 
informal operations of evangelic benevolence. Before 
the simple dignity of this heavenly virtue, how mean 
does the pompous, vain-glorious and self-righteous 
generosity of the world appear. Much as unbelievers 
boast of their benevolence, when did they ever think 
of obeying the inspired command : " Let him that 
giveth, do it with simplicity." As if anticipating 
their defence at the Judgment, their boastful inquiry 
is, " When saw we thee hungry and fed thee not ?" 
How different will be the language of the saints in 
the last day. When the Judge will have said to them, 
" welcome and well done," and acknowledge their char- 
ities towards him, they will reply as though they were 
ignorant of having done him a single kind service. 



256 THE SIMPLICITY OF 

Their response is replete with moral grandeur : " Lord, 
when saw we thee an hungered and fed thee ? or 
thirsty and gave thee drink ? — when saw we thee a 
stranger and took thee in ? and naked and clothed 
thee ? — or when saw we thee sick and in prison, and 
came unto thee." 

Honor never gives anything to those who do not 
allow him the pleasure of making the first advances. 
He who bestows his charities without attempting to 
conceal them, need not be surprised to learn that 
some consider his conduct as prompted by vanity 
rather than benevolence. A person's charities are 
commonly estimated, not by their amount, but by the 
manner of bestowing them. And wisely, for the 
latter is the surest index of his motives. 

Some regard what they give under the guise of 
charity as that amount paid for applause ; and ap- 
plause they expect in return according to the laws of 
trade. Aware that a show of wealth wins more hom- 
age from the multitude than concealed generosity, 
they prefer to disj^lay it in personal extravagance 
when they cannot pour their gold into the treasury 
of some popular and fashionable charity. They turn 
coolly away from the imploring hand of obscure want, 
and open their purses to those only who know how 
to admire the lustre of their eagles, and the largeness 
of their benevolence. The moat numerous and valu- 
able gifts, are bestowed on those who do not need 
them. 

In bestowing a donation, we should not accompany 
it with apologies. To say that we regret that it is so 
trifling, that it is not more appropriate or more time- 
ly, is sometimes embarrassing to the receiver, who in 



TKUE BENEFICENCE. 257 

such a case, will be moved to add a word of consola- 
tion to his thanks. Simplicity in giving, enhances the 
value of the gift and om- gratitude to the giver. 
When our resources are very disproj)oi'tional to our 
wishes and another's wants, we may offer an apology. 

Presents should be made with the least possible 
ceremony. If they are small, they should be con- 
veyed to the person without parade and without a 
word of explanation. "When they are bestowed per- 
sonally and the receiver begins to laud them, the 
giver ought neither to join in their praise nor to un- 
dervalue them. 

Charity does not reprove the miserable creatures 
she relieves. The tears of her compassion blind her 
eyes to every vice. Were she to mention the faults 
of the poor, they would consider her gifts as be- 
grudged ; so she would excite their gratitude neither 
for her alms nor her reproofs. She imitates him 
"who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth 
not." 

Some Christians confer their gifts with a serenity 
and sweetness of mien which shows that they do not 
give grudgingly. They never seem so happy as 
when they have impoverished themselves to make 
others happy. Their beneficence is like those show- 
ers which come gently down on the withering fields 
while the birds are singing, the sun is shining, and 
the bow is jewelling the bosom of the cloud. " God 
loveth a cheerful giver." 

We should not tell others how much we have sac- 
rificed for their benefit. Some persons accompany a 
present with a great deal of information ; they tell 
the receiver how much it cost, how rare, how curious 



258 THE SIMPLICITY OF 

it is ; whereas they ought to allow the recipient to 
discover and mention these things, otherwise he may 
be at a loss for fine things to say to them. 

To the rich and the proud we should ofier favors 
with caution, and never ask to help them to things 
their own boasted wealth or generosity can supj)ly 
them. They do not thank us for seeming to question 
their pretensions. When they desire anything their 
inferiors alone can give, they ought courteously to ask 
them for it. A wealthy man of real generosity will 
sometimes give the poor the pleasure of doing him a 
favor, and a man of profound learning will occasion- 
ally deign to be instructed by a school-boy. 

He who relieves the wants of an individual should 
conceal the act from everybody felse. He should 
tell no one how much he has given, to whom, or that 
he has given at all. It may be prejudicial to the 
giver to permit all the world to know that he is a 
very benevolent man, and, in certain cases, it is in- 
juring the receiver to make it widely known that he 
has been relieved in such a way, to such an amount, 
and by such a person. Some may dislike him for 
having accepted a favor from that individual, and 
others may dislike the giver for aiding the receiver, 
and others again may jealously think that they them- 
selves are more deserving of the gift. The recip- 
ient is the better judge of the effects of publishing 
an act of liberality. To him, therefore, should this 
duty be wholly resigned. "When our alms are con- 
veyed to the poor by the hands of another, we should 
conceal our names from them, unless there be special 
reasons for disclosing them. The command of our 
Lord, in whatever light we may view it, is sanctioned 



TKUE BENEFICENCE. 259 

bj the dictates of courtesy : " When thou doest ahns, 
let not thy left hand know what the right hand 
doeth ; that their alms may be in secret." 

Many have been eloquent in the praise of the reflex 
benefits of benevolence ; but the most of them have 
not recollected that, to those only who give from 
right motives is it promised that their bounties shall 
return laden with blessings to their own souls. "Take 
heed that ye do not your alms before men to be seen 
of them ; otherwise ye have no reward of your Father 
which is in heaven." The deed which brings a sure 
reward to the doer must proceed from a pure heart ; 
those two rivers, Pison and Gihon, which compassed 
whole lands, and rolled back towards their source, 
had their origin in the garden of Eden. 

The giver should bestow the gift in such a way as 
not to embarrass the receiver, to lay him under new 
obligations, or make him more dependent. We 
should not suppose that those who have received our 
charities have, by this act, sold themselves into ser- 
vitude to us ; we should not rivet our golden fetters 
about their limbs unawares, and without their con- 
sent. Let no man do this, and then call it " giving." 

Always greet an agent of a benevolent society 
with cordial cheerfulness, and when he announces 
his object, do not begin to grumble, frown or shake 
your head. Bethink how disheartening it must be 
for him to witness such demonstrations all day long. 
Give what you can, and along with it as calm a smile 
as ever lit up the countenance of a martyr. When he 
takes leave, bid him and his cause godspeed, and 
tell him how happy you shall be to see him again. 

It is a breach of simplicity to remind others of 



260 THE SIMPLICITY OF 

the gifts they have received from ns. It is their 
duty to remind us of them, especially at a distant 
day ; this shows us they have not forgotten our gen- 
erosity. To assist their memories is to rebuke their 
ingratitude, and to indicate to them, that we never 
forget what we have devoted to charity. If we are 
drawn into a controversy with one on whom we have 
conferred a gift, we should never, in any manner, al- 
lude to the fact. This is inconsistent with evangeli- 
cal charity, which gives expecting no return. " Ah, 
sir, you have forgotten that thousand." " Oh, no ; 
generous friend ! You told me it was a gift. I am 
now happy to learn that it was not, and return it to 
you with interest." 

A benefactor should show a uniform courtesy tow- 
ards the persons benefited. It is enough that they 
are made dependent on his bounty. He should not 
add to the burden of their hearts the reflection that 
they are neglected or abused by him. One who 
has received distinguished favors from another, has 
reason to presume that he will delicately respect his 
feelings. A marked coldness of manner toward the 
relieved may lead him to suspect he has become the 
object of his friend's displeasure. If his benefactor 
has borne him through six troubles, but abandoned 
him in the midst of the seventh, it is in vain that he 
calls on him to counterpoise present neglect with 
past services. 

Some benevolent societies in this and other lands 
have, it is to be feared, departed from the simplicity 
of charity by the methods they use to procure funds. 
They foster the vanity of their patrons, and appeal to 
unworthy motives in men of the world. When a 



TRUE BENEFICENCE. 261 

donation is made, especially if it be large, the name 
of the donor and the amount given is published in all 
the earth. Under the head of " receipts," or " dona- 
tions," we see long columns of names, with few at- 
tempts at concealment. It were almost blasphemy 
to mention even the defects in these great and trust- 
worthy engines for the evangelization of the world. 
]^or is the blame of their mismanagement always to 
be imputed to the treasurers, secretaries and other 
officers of these societies, since they are the obedient 
servants of the donors and members. Yet is not 
somebody responsible for those large and splendid 
certificatjes of membership which we sometimes see 
set in elegant frames, and hung up to adorn the 
drawing-rooms of the donors ? Our divine Master re- 
buked the hypocrites who announced the time of 
their almsgiving by the blast of the trumj)et. But 
the benevolent of our times have greatly improved 
on the inventions of the ancient Pharisees, for they 
are able, after the fact, to sound far abroad every 
generous name and every large donation. The 
short- w^inded heralds of the synagogue may now lay 
aside their trumpets, for the might of steam and 
the speed of electricity proclaim through all the world 
the magnificence of men. 

He who should build a temple to Charity, and for- 
bid his name to be inscribed thereon, but cause it to 
be hushed in the silence of oblivion, would be a real 
benefactor to mankind. A monument towering high 
over the field of battle might inspire the beholder 
with loftier patriotism ; a stupendous cathedral might 
penetrate him with a deeper religious awe. But this 



262 THE SIMPLICITY OF 

would do more than either. It would teach him un- 
ostentatious charity. 

It is too true, however, that when some persons 
are besought to subscribe to a benevolent object, 
they excuse themselves by saying that they give in 
secret, or if the agent betrays any sm-prise that they 
should offer so small a sum, they hint to him, that 
he does not know how much they bestow privately 
on this or the other object. But the grief is, that 
nobody is able to ferret out the lurking charities of 
these men, while their glaring avarice does not 
escape the most obtuse of their acquaintance. Be- 
sides, if they gave from singleness of motive, they 
could not easily be prevailed upon to own that they 
had given even in secret. If such persons are 
driven in self-vindication to allude to their secret 
charities, it is incumbent on them to state to whom^ 
or at least what amount they gave. 

Let none infer from the foregoing, that our Master 
condemns all publicity in almsgiving any more than 
He does all publicity in prayer ; for He disapproves 
the one as much as he does the other, in certain cir- 
cumstances, and when actuated by motives of vanity 
and self-exaltation. The7i both public praying and 
giving are to be exchanged for a more unpretending 
mode. On the other hand, there are occasions 
where an exposed beneficence is obligatory, as 
glorifying God, and profiting mankind through good 
example. We are commanded to let our light so 
shine before men, that others, seeing our good works, 
may glorify our Father who is in heaven. He who 
would decide whether his gifts shall be secret or 
open in a particular case, must set over against the 



TRUE BENEFICEITCE. 283 

above precept this other : " Let not your left hand 
know what your right hand doeth," and then rely on 
his own moral judgment to decide where the me- 
dium course lies. For these Scriptures, like many 
others, though they are apparently contradictorj^, 
are intended to guard us against two opposite 
errors. 



CHAPTEK 'Xin. 

THE DUTIES OF THE NEW CONVERT TO HIS FORMER 
COMPANIONS. 

When the new convert parts with his associates, 
the coui'tesy of his deportment should convince them 
that it is not self-righteousness, but true humility — 
not an aversion, but a well-regulated love to them 
which induces him to alter his conduct towards 
them. 

One of the first obligations he is to discharge is 
that of seeking to make ample amends to any per- 
son he may have injured or offended. If he previ- 
ously sought an accommodation in vain, he ought 
now to make another attempt. Such a change may 
have been wrought in the temper of the person with 
whom he has been at variance, or in his own, as shall 
assist to re-establish an amicable intercourse between 
them. Upon the renewal of friendship, when heart 
inclines to heart, and each is willing to yield every- 
thing to the other, he should seize the golden mo- 
ment to express his concern for the eternal welfare 
of his friend. 

"With all his former acquaintances he should con- 
verse seriously on the subject of religion ; except, 
perhaps, with those who are his superiors in age, 



THE DUTIES OF THE NEW CONVERT. 265 

rank, and learning, to whom, with a view to avoid 
being thought irreverent and impudent, he may pre- 
sent such tracts or other books as are adapted to lead 
their minds to serions thought. "With those of his 
superiors with whom he lived on terms of intimacy, 
he may converse as freely as he was accustomed to 
do on other subjects before his' conversion. He may 
be required to entreat those to whose disordered 
consciences no amenity of address could make his 
appeals agreeable. But he should not be dispirited 
when his words of kindness are ill received by those 
to whom the entreaties of an angel would be equally 
unwelcome. 

Sinners often accuse the gentlest expostulator, of 
severity, when he has done no more than provoke 
their own consciences to rebuke them severely, and 
the spite which they vent upon him is sometimes 
rather an outburst of long pent-up enmity to the 
truth, than of hatred to him. Let him therefore 
bear opposition patiently, and be more concerned 
for the souls of his fellow-men than for his own sensi- 
bilities. Let his spirit be meek and earnest, like 
that of the orator who, when his life was threatened 
for maintaining unpopular opinions, said, "Strike, 
but hear me." I^or let him be intimidated by false 
accusations of impertinence from those who are 
guilty of the blackest ingratitude for his many and 
painful exertions for their conversion. There is 
somewhere a story of a man who, in being saved 
from drowning, received a hurt on the tip of his ear, 
of which he was heard the next day bitterly com- 
plaining, having, in so short a time, wholly forgotten 
his deliverer. The conduct of this man differs from 
M 



266 THE DUTIES OF THE NEW CONVERT 

that of the persons in question mainly in this, that 
he showed that he did not value highly enough the 
services which had been done him in saving him 
from death : whereas they complain of and even 
angrily resist the very attempt to save them from 
hell. 

He should avoid every appearance of scornfulness 
in his bearing towards his former associates, and all 
expressions of contempt for their favorite amuse- 
ments. When invited to go to their assemblies, he 
ouglit neither to be astonished nor offended, even if 
he has reason to suspect that the invitation proceeded 
from unfriendly designs. He should decline such in- 
vitations with courtesy. 

The new convert should ]3ermit no imaginary obsta- 
cles to discourage him ; if, from any cause he is not 
allowed to converse with his unbelieving acquaint- 
ances, he may ask them to peruse some evangelical 
book. Sometimes a letter will prove to be a heavenly 
message. Xor should he delay the performance of 
this important duty. The ardor of first love will 
cany him over such difficulties as the languor which 
sometimes follows it would not assist him to sur- 
mount. 

Many a one who has devoted himself to the cause 
of the Nazarene, has suffered the severing of tender 
earthly ties, and the reproaches of his former part- 
ners in folly. To become an outcast from the circles 
where, a little while ago, to have been forgotten 
would have been considered as infamy ; to be shun- 
ned by those who once flattered and caressed him, 
to bid farewell to the friendships of the world, is, 
to a mind of delicate texture, easy compared with 



TO HIS FORMER COMPANIONS. 267 

enduring meekly the gibes and innuendoes of which 
he will be made the unmerited victim. He is in 
danger of gloriously exulting over his persecutors, 
when he ought silently to compassionate their de- 
lusion, and seek, by his meekness, to show them 
that divine grace can subdue every malignant pas- 
sion, and that the fires through which they drive 
him, serve but to light his way to heaven, and to re- 
veal to him the glories of his eternal abode. Let 
persecution excite neither scorn nor hatred, but joy 
and hope. " Blessed are ye when men shall hate 
you and when they shall separate you from their 
company, and shall reproach you and cast out your 
name as evil for the Son of man's sake. Rejoice ye 
in that day and leap for joy : for behold your reward 
is great in heaven." 



CHAPTER Xiy. 

THE IXTEECOUKSE OF THE CHRISTIAN AVITH THE WOELD. 

Divine grace does not disqualify man for perform- 
ing his duties as a citizen, a subject, a friend or a 
relative, but pre23ares bim, better than anything else, 
to adorn and ennoble each of these characters. Nor 
will the laws by which he is governed allow him to 
omit these duties, even if, in order to their faithful 
performance, he should be required to hold frequent 
intercourse with people of the world. 

The Hebrews religiously shunned the society of 
men of other nations. They sometimes carried their 
scruples so far as to deny Gentiles the common offices 
of humanity and mercy. They could not understand 
how our compassionate Saviour could consistently 
dine with heathens. At the great feast given by Levi, 
at which Jesus and his disciples reclined, along with 
a great company of publicans and others, the Phari- 
sees asked : " Why do ye eat and drink with publi- 
cans and sinners ?" Jesus replied : " They that are 
whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." 
" I came not to call the righteous but sinners to re- 
pentance." This answer, while it rebuked the Phar- 
isees for their self-righteousness, declared to them 
that he moved in the society of the wicked with a 
view to secure their repentance and salvation. 



CHRISTIAN INTERCOURSE. 269 

It was only bj coming into this polluted world that 
the Son of God could save it, and it is only by a ju- 
dicious intercourse with it, that his disciples can hope 
to aid in its renovation. " The salt of the earth" 
should come in close contact with those whom it is 
appointed to preserve ; the light of the world, should 
be borne into the very midst of the moral darkness it 
is commissioned to dispel. But still our Redeemer 
would not have this salt so absorbed by the world as 
to lose its savor, nor this light extinguished by de- 
scending too deep into the damp pits of wickedness. 
His prayer for his discij^les was : "I pray not that 
thou wouldst take them out of the world, but that 
thou wouldst keep them from the evil." He knows 
that the intercourse of society is well adapted to de- 
velop, as well as display the Christian graces. Bad 
as the world is, he expresses his confidence in the 
divine influence that protects his friends against its 
assaults. He knows that it is a more affecting ex- 
hibition of his guardianship, to lead them through the 
fiery furnace unharmed, than to keep them at a dis- 
tance from its heat. Yet had it been an easy thing 
to live in this polluted world without contracting its 
defilements, he would not have prayed so earnestly 
that they might so live. And if it was an object of 
his anxieties in his last days on earth, it ought also 
to be the object of our deepest solicitude and our 
most fervent prayers. I^o Christian is so completely 
armed against the shafts of his adversaries as not to 
be sometimes wounded by them. In the various 
commerce of life, he will oftentimes need to repeat 
his Saviour's prayer, and to ask that he may equally 
be kept from austerity and laxness, from unsociable- 



270 INTERCOURSE OF THE CHRISTIAN 

iiess and intimacy, and know how to flee the amnse- 
ments of the worldling, and yet how to commune 
with him in his serious moments. 

With respect to the extent of this license, it may 
be said, in general, that the Christian is not forbid- 
den, for the purjDOse of executing a benevolent de- 
sign, to go into any comj)any not assembled for vice, 
dissipation, or amusement. Our perfect Pattern 
seems never to have violated this rule. He dined at 
tables where some of the company were wine-bibbers 
and gluttons, but those dinners at which he was a 
guest, were not given for the gratification of drunk- 
ards and gormands. They were designed to refresh 
the guests and to facilitate a friendly intercourse 
among them. He went to a wedding in Cana, and 
assisted at a ceremony which was usually accompa- 
nied with unlicensed festivity. But marriage was a 
divine institution, and he consented to be a guest 
that he might sanction it by his presence, and by 
performing a miracle to convince unbelievers of his 
Messiahship. We may add, by the way, that those 
who set up a plea for wine-drinking, on the ground 
of this miracle, might with equal color of reason ad- 
vocate a general poisoning of swine ; for Christ by a 
miracle once let loose some demons which entered 
into a herd and drove them into a lake ! Our Lord 
was not answerable for the perversion of his miracles 
by men or devils. 

Some, magnifying the temptations presented to a 
Christian at such a marriage feast, and such dinner 
parties as our Lord honored by his presence, his teach- 
ings, and a miracle, would dissuade us from imitating 
this part of his conduct. They say the immaculate 



WITH THE WORLD. 271 

Son of God might safely expose himself to moral dan- 
gers, which imperfect beings are not allowed to 
hazard. But why then did he suffer his disciples to 
accompany him into the society of those who would 
endanger their piety ? They were not, like himself, 
proof against every assault of the tempter. Had the 
Holy One designed that his followers should not go 
into this society, he could have told them so. We 
may securely go whither his imitable example leads, 
and his sanctifying Spirit attends us. 

Cases do indeed occur in which it is not judicious to 
keep up even a conscientious intercourse with people 
of the world. When St. Paul said, " All things are 
lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient," he 
established a principle which, if consulted, would 
correct many errors in casuistry, and forever hush 
many doubtful disputations in morals. Where, from a 
misjudgment of our motives, or from other causes, our 
example might become a snare to the consciences of 
others, or lead them into sin, duty requires us to ab- 
stain from what would otherwise be an allowable 
course of conduct. In many instances there are com- 
binations of circumstances which render it wrong for 
a Christian to go into the society of unbelievers, even 
though it should be his object to secure their eternal 



The piety of professors, who live on terms of close 
intimacy with people of the world, is exposed to in- 
sensible but rapid decay. Rare indeed are the in- 
stances of the escape of such persons from the infec- 
tion which worldlings diffuse through the circles they 
com|)ose. The more the man of the world is capable 
of captivating the professor by the brilliancy of his 



272 INTERCOURSE OF THE CHRISTIAN 

talents, the charms of his conversation, and the ele- 
gance of his manners, the more easily does he lead 
him into prayerlessness, worldliness, and infidelity. 
Even when the Christian is able to maintain vital 
godliness in the commerce of the world, he loses what 
is needful to its benign influence upon others — a rep- 
utation for it. All men receive the maxim which 
an ancient heathen poet has clothed in verse, and a 
Christian apostle has quoted and approved f* 

" Bad company good morals doth corrupt.'' 

They do not look for eminent piety among those 
professors who are the associates of the irreligious. 
Did spiritual persons more frequently refuse the en- 
snaring offers of worldly companions, and shun the 
coteries of fashion, they would more clearly evince 
the superiority of their virtues to those of unbelievers, 
and how greatly the proprieties of Christian conduct 
surpass those of worldly jDoliteness. It is only when 
the child of God is removed from the children of the 
world, that his manners can be fairly contrasted with 
theirs. 

When a person of indiscreet or unprincipled life, 
at the house of a common friend, makes advances 
towards us, it would commonly be safe to meet him 
half-way, and enter into general conversation with 
him ; but we ought not to identify ourselves with him, 
or by our abearance convey to him or others an ap- 
proval of his conduct. A cold but respectful reserve 
is our only shield in such an emergency — a shield 

3* 1 Cor. 15 : 33. ^deipovatv fidtj XPW^' o/xtXtai KaKai. — From Me- 
nander's lost comedy of Thais. 



WITH THE WORLD. 273 

which some discourteously present to everybody with 
whom they are not intimately acquainted. 

We owe social duties to relations, friends, and ac- 
quaintance, which nothing but the grossest defec- 
tions from virtue, on their part, can excuse us from 
discharging. With respect to our intercourse with 
immoral persons, the apostle Paul has made important 
distinctions. To the church at Corinth he says, "I 
wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with 
fornicators ; yet not altogether with the fornicators 
of this world, or the covetous, or extortioners, or idol- 
aters ; for then must ye needs go out of the world. 
But now I have written unto you, not to keep com- 
pany, if any man tliat is called a Irother be a forni- 
cator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a 
drunkard, or an extortioner ; with such an one not 
to eat." Then as a reason for such conduct, he de- 
clares that the disciple has a right to judge of the 
morals of those whom he recognizes as brethren, but 
not a rignt to judge of the morals of those whom he 
meets with in general society ; for, he adds, " What 
have I to do to judge them also who are without ? Do 
ye not judge them that are within ?" He who is un- 
willing to assist his brethren in excommunicating an 
unworthy person is presumed to sanction his behav- 
ior, but if he happen to be in a party, members of 
which are vicious characters, he cannot be supposed 
to sanction their sins, nor in most cases, is he comjDe- 
tent to form a just opinion concerning their morals. 
A church is an association of persons kindred in reli- 
gious character, but diverse in social and intellectual 
qualities. But a party is in general composed of per- 
sons, having like intellectual tastes and social pref- 



274 INTERCOURSE OF THE CHRISTIAN 

erences, without mucli agreement in religious princi- 
ples. The harmony of a church is destroyed as soon 
as the members forget the great doctrines to which 
all give assent, and begin to contend about matters 
of philosoph^^, politics, or science, with respect to which 
no two may agree. Likewise a company met for con- 
versation is divided the moment the members begin 
angrily to assail one another's principles and practice. 
Here one is not allowed to sit in judgment upon char- 
acters, or to shun persons who have been condemned 
neither by a church, a court of justice, nor public 
opinion. When he meets with a person in company, 
where his vicious character is not generally known, 
he may not, unless the company is in some way en- 
dangered by his presence, inform them of his ofien- 
ces, since they have no jurisdiction in criminal cases. 
He may complain before the civil authorities or be- 
fore a church, if the individual is a member of any ; 
but he cannot without a violation of courtesy throw 
out insinuations hurtful to any j^erson present or ab- 
sent. 

Those Christians sadly err who conceal their reli- 
gion when they go into the society of the world. By 
making it appear to the man of the world that they 
are not religious characters, they do him a wrong. 
They tempt him unwittingly to take liberties in con- 
versation with them, which, had they given him the 
slightest clue to their principles, he would have care- 
fully eschewed. When he has thus been misled, 
what unfavorable reflections does he indulge. He 
regards them as the hypocrites of fashion, and himself 
as their dupes. ISTo irreligious person, in whose com- 
position gentility is the slightest ingredient, desires 



WITH THE "WORLD. 275 

to be left ignorant of the moral character of the people 
he meets with in society. If he is uninformed on this 
point, he is in danger of offending them. The uncer- 
tainty embarrasses him, and the dread of wounding 
the feelings of others renders him awkward and unea- 
sy. Though the politeness of the world forbids it, 
Christian delicacy would advise the religious profes- 
sor by the gravity of his bearing, the piety of his con- 
versation, or by some other means, to give the man 
of the world some intimation of his godliness. 

If a Christian upon entering a drawing-room finds 
the company to be other than he had reason to expect 
when he accepted the invitation, and discovers prep- 
arations for cards or dancing, he may converse a few 
minutes with the mistress of the house, and then un- 
ostentatiously withdraw. If he happens to be in a 
company where profane or obscene language is used, 
he wiU not rebuke the offender, but leave that duty 
to the gentleman of the house. When he is in a pub- 
lic place or conveyance he may courteously remind 
the offender of the impropriety of his behavior. 

The Christian should not converse with unbelievers 
on the subject of personal piety, when they are in the 
company of their companions and acquaintance. 
Many who would treat the subject with levity in 
company, will in private, converse on the subject with 
sobriety and candor. Besides, should the Christian's 
pearls chance to fall out of their casket, they will be 
safer before one than before a crowd. The main op- 
position our blessed Master met with, was from as- 
semblies of unbelievers who encouraged and sup- 
ported one another. On the other hand, we know 
with what success he talked with the Samaritan 



276 CHRISTIAN INTERCOURSE. 

woman at Jacob's well in the stillness of noonday, 
and with Nicodemus who stole to his lodgings under 
the cover of night. The treasurer of Candice proba- 
bly unbosomed himself to Philip with less reserve 
when a lonely traveller, than he would have done 
among the courtiers and retinue of the Ethiopian 
palace. 



CHAPTEK XY. 

THE DIVINE LAW OF COMPLAISANCE. 

So:me professors would have us distinctly under- 
stand that they are not " man-pleas ers." They have 
attempted to please both God and man, but have 
learned that it is not possible to do both ; and hence- 
forth their one aim shall be how they may please 
God. If the world be displeased with and j)ersecute 
them, what wonder? so did they hate the Son of 
God, and so persecuted they the proj^hets. Suiting 
their demeanor to their principles, they go on daily 
growing blunt, disobliging and uncivil. As unMnd- 
ness and neglect are always reciprocated, it is not 
long before these professors begin to look upon the 
people of the world as their personal enemies, while 
the latter consider the former as akin to those per- 
sons mentioned in Holy "Writ, who " please not God, 
and are contrary to all men." 

Such persons should beware that, while they un- 
duly exalt the claims of sincerity, they do not entire- 
ly set aside those of all the other Christian virtues. 
Sincerity is to be regarded a grace of the Spirit only 
as it is exercised in a guileless and unaffected exhi- 
bition of the amiable and virtuous qualities of the 
mind. A person may be inhumane and hurtful 



278 DIVINE LAW OF COMPLAISANCE. 

with all sincerity. When a person is compelled to 
adopt rude and ungentle manners in order to estab- 
lish a reputation for sincerity, it may be safely in- 
ferred he is craving credit for a quality he does not 
possess. "When unpleasing dispositions are openly 
expressed, they are none the less offensive to us for 
being unfeigned. Wicked as dissimulation ever must 
be, we would all prefer its attempts at concealing the 
corruptions of the heart, to that sort of sincerity which 
makes a shameless exposure of them. 

There should be nothing in the conduct of the 
Christian unpleasing to the man of the world, unless 
it be his godliness. His general behavior and ad- 
dress should be such as to offend no reasonable being, 
and his comity and uprightness should blunt all the 
arrows of hatred and envy. Daniel the prophet 
seems to have been a man of engaging manners, as 
well as strict piety. Although called to discharge 
the unwelcome duties of his office, as seer in the pal- 
aces of kings, such were the gentleness and suavity 
of his address, that he uttered predictions the most 
unfavorable to the great without incensing them. He 
possessed more than the polish of the courtier, with 
none of his adulation and meanness. He wore his 
courtliness as a girdle of grace round his prophetic 
mantle. It was this that softened the austerity with- 
out impairing the integrity of his character, and 
raised him to the highest offices, under the reigns of 
three successive kings, two of whom were hostile to 
each other, and all naturally entertained prejudices 
unfriendly to his nation and his religion. And when 
the princes above whom he had been exalted, and 
who were envious of his glory, sought his fall, 



DIVINE LAW OF COMPLAISANCE. 279 

they paid him the highest compliment when they 
confessed that they would not be able to find any ' 
ground for his impeachment, unless it w^as the devo- 
tion and consistency of his piety. Three angels, on 
as many several occasions, unanimously applied to 
him the epithet " well-beloved." It was chiefly by 
the amenity of her manners that an humble Jewess, 
a captive and an orphan, won the heart of Ahasuerus, 
and the queenly crown of the Medo-Persian empire. 
Though she was beautiful, it was not by her beauty 
that Esther became the successor of Vashti ; for who 
could jDOSsess higher j^ersonal charms than the latter ? 
Such was her beauty, that the king in his vanity 
would exhibit it to his princes and his people. It was 
rather the delicacy and deference of Esther's be- 
havior, contrasting as it did, with the haughty and 
contemptuous bearing of Yashti, which rendered her 
a meet and agreeable companion for the monarch. 
"When she was brought from her ajDartments to be 
presented to the king, although it was customary on 
such an occasion to give a maiden whatever she de- 
sired for the ceremony, she obtained favor in the 
sight of all who saw her, among other things, by re- 
quiring nothing but what Hegai the king's chamber- 
lain appointed. With what insinuating address, yet 
modest courage did she, at the peril of her life, in- 
voke the royal clemency in behalf of her doomed " 
countrymen and her hated religion. How admirable 
was her manner of inviting the king and Haman to 
the banquet. "With what condescension did the 
queen give the cruel Haman an opportunity of ex- 
tenuating his crimes, and of pleading for his life in 
her presence. I^o man of sense, how far soever ad- 



280 DIVINE LAW OF COMPLAISANCE. 

vanced in the school of modern politeness, can read 
and ponder the sacred memoir of this pious, elegant, 
and majestic queen, without admiring her skill in 
the art of pleasing. 

'Nor are these the only examples of manners that 
were alike pleasing to God and man. ]Niot to speak 
of several other Hebrew personages who, while they 
held their citizenship in another world were beloved 
by all who knew them as sojourners in this, the early 
history of the Son of God may be confidently ad- 
duced as testimony that a deportment pleasing to the 
world strictly consists with the entire approbation of 
Heaven. Reverence for age, obedience and defer- 
ence towards superiors, respect to equals, kindness 
and aflability to inferiors — all the milder virtues 
must have adorned the youthful Jesus, else it would 
never have been said of him that he "increased in 
favor with God and man." And after he commenced 
his duties as the teacher of a new religion, repulsive 
as his doctrines were to almost all orders in the 
nation, and persecuted as he was by reason of them, 
no one ever accused him of a single act of dis- 
courtesy. He had a most happy way of doing what- 
ever his benevolent soul projected. His manners 
were always winning and conciliatory. When he 
performed that miracle among the Gergesenes, by 
which a demoniac had been healed, and a herd of 
swine drowned, at the request of the inhabitants, 
he left their territories and returned to CajDernaum. 
He deigned to adopt the Jewish code of manners 
with those modifications only which a more sincere 
and liberal spirit demanded. Faulty as some of the 
rules of their ceremonious etiquette were, he seems 



DIVINE LAW OF COMPLAISANCE. 281 

not to have considered them the worst part of their 
social system. He was sensible that by a general 
conformity to it, he would be able to introduce his 
gracious messages to many who could not otherwise 
be approached. 

Observing that John the Baptist had excited dis- 
like by abstemiousness and austerity, he conformed 
to the habits of both Jew and Gentile. And while 
he, no less than John, failed to please all classes, 
he showed his desire so to do, and accuses the Jews 
of repaying his complaisance with obstinacy and pet- 
ulance.^* Unlike too many false reformers, he dis- 
liked tumult, contention, and notoriety. Without 
assuming any authority in the state, or any ostenta- 
tion in his miracles, he sought to preserve the good- 
will of the magistracy, and the quietude of the peo- 
ple. To gratify the wishes of fond parents, he suf- 
fered inquisitive children to gather about him, and 
he put his hands upon them and blessed them. On 
this occasion, as on several others, his disciples re- 
buked the people for their disrespect to their Master ; 
but He could meekly bear the rudeness and opposi- 
tion of those for whom He came to die. And while 
He was the Infinite One, and his sublime mission 
was the salvation of a world, he graciously deigned 
to respect the most tender feelings, and to sympa- 
thize with the slightest infirmities. He did not break 
even the bruised reed, or quench even the smoking 
flax. "What a tender regard for the sensibilities of 
others must He have cherished, who could send his 
disciple a fishing, and perform a miracle, that he 

35 Matt. 11 : 16-19. Luke 7 : 31-35. 



282 DIVINE LAW OF COMPLAISANCE. 

might not offend the tax-gatherer, who wrongfully 
demanded tribute at his hands. 

Next to our perfect Exemplar, Saint Paul deserves 
to be imitated as a pattern of complaisance. The 
apostle of a " sect everywhere spoken against," he 
possessed the rare faculty of winning the good-will 
of men of all nations and creeds. He sought to 
please peojjle of the world not only in great matters, 
but in small. So refined- was his delicacy, that he 
was attentive to the least thing which could please 
the least j^erson. This greatest of great men, whose 
mind was occupied with the care of all the churches 
— whose eloquence had made him pass for a god, 
and drawn after him many followers in all the coun- 
tries where it had been heard, was not ashamed to 
confess that he observed every punctilio in the art of 
pleasing — did not blush to declare that he sought to 
please all men in all things. 

The most superficial reader of his life and corres- 
pondence can scarce fail to observe the refined cour- 
tesy of his conduct. Several men of politeness in 
this country and in Europe, who have not scrupled 
to scoff at his doctrines, and vilify the name of Chris- 
tian, have expressed great admiration for the only 
virtues of Paul they were capable of appreciating, 
honestly confessing that he was a man of exemplary 
gentility. Anthony Collins, the famous deistical 
writer, once said at the table of the first Lord Bar- 
rington, that he was sure Saint Paul must have been 
a finished gentleman. In his letters also he expresses 
his admiration of this character in the apostle. 

On the other hand, these and many other illustrious 
examples, as well as daily experience, evince that the 



DIVINE LAW OF COMPLAISANCE. 283 

most amiable Christians must often fail to please an 
unbelieving world. The Prince of Peace himself, 
with all the loveliness of his conduct, frequently met 
with those to whom he was courteous in vain, and 
who were the more hostile to him as they beheld 
fresh exhibitions of his benignant nature. It is diffi- 
cult for the Christian, while performing the duties of 
his religion, to give the highest degree of pleasure to 
the man of the world, for the heart and the conscience 
of the unbeliever widely differ in their ^preferences ; 
and he who aims to please the one, generally offends 
the other. When the Christian endeavors to lead 
the sinner to the cross, he generally gains the approba- 
tion of his conscience, but the displeasure of his heart. 
When, on the contrary, the Christian joins with the 
worldling in his vicious amusements and vocations, 
he pleases the heart of the latter, but offends his 
moral sense. Since the pleasures of the unbeliever's 
conscience are very few, and most appeals to it pain- 
ful, the Christian ever affords him more satisfaction 
by addressing his social or intellectual, than by ap- 
pealing to his moral powers. Hence the man of the 
world is more entertained by the defects than the ex- 
cellences of the Christian, and most disgusted when 
his religious character is most conspicuous. Yet con- 
spicuous must be the virtues of the faithful professor, 
whether he moves among the children of light or the 
children of darkness. ITor can the worldly professor 
of religion be so lost in any fashionable assembly or 
folly, as not to be recognized and watched by the eye 
of some man of the world. Those who by effacing all 
marks of piety from their behavior, aim to be esteemed 
members of "good society," rather than Christians, ex- 



284 DIVINE LAW OF COMPLAISANCE. 

cite the more aversion the more tliey strive to please. 
Their light cannot be hid. Some ray stealing through 
an unconscious rent in the robe of fashion will betray 
its concealment, and make the most vicious despise 
the concealer. 

The man of the world, however, fails of universal 
complaisance equally with the consistent Christian. 
The impiety of the worldling is as unpleasing to the 
Christian as the piety of the Christian is unpleasing 
to the worldling. 'No suavity of behavior can en- 
tirely atone for ungodliness. He who disobeys my 
adorable Father, and disdains my beloved Saviour 
in my presence, treats me with the rudest indignity." 

The pleasures of the Christian are not those of the 
worldling. So wide is the moral interval between 
the child of God and the child of the Wicked One, 
that he who cordially enjoys the society of the one 
is ill at ease in that of the other. A friendship is 
sometimes formed between a Christian and a man of 
the world, based on a congeniality of social and in- 
tellectual qualities. Few friendships, however, are 
lasting which are not founded on the evangelical vir- 
tues. There is indeed a superficial amiableness which 
can for a short time captivate the believer, but a more 

^ Lord Chesterfield, unsurpassed as he was, and perhaps ever 
must be, for a refined sense of the becoming and for elegance of man- 
ners, wanted the qualities which could render him highly agreeable 
to pious persons. His politeness and popular vices stole the hearts 
of people of the world, while his practical infidelity grieved his be- 
lieving relations and friends. In his last hours his awful insensibil- 
ity to his moral state wrung the heart of his devout lady with an- 
guish, and when she sent for the Rev. Rowland Hill, he refused to 
see that man of God. Unceremoniously rushing into the presence 
of the King of kings, his last words were : " Give DayroUs a chair." 



DIVINE LAW OF COMPLAISANCE. 285 

intimate acquaintance wears away the gloss, lays 
bare the real character, and dispels the attractive 
illusion. 

But in the common communion of men, and the 
secular employments of life, the Christian need not 
give offence to the man of the world. A correct 
moral sense will teach him, and his circnmstances 
will prepare him to shun such exhibitions of his faith 
and practice, in his daily vocations, as would dis- 
please the worldly, without improving them. 'Now 
he may establish the superiority of the Christian vir- 
tues to those which the world boasts, and show that 
honesty, suavity, veracity, and kindness, which, while 
they outshine those spurious virtues of the same name, 
which are claimed by unbelievers, gain their favor and 
admiration. There must be something unchristian in 
the professor who scandalizes people of the world, 
when the offence does not arise out of his religion. 
The Messiah was universally beloved during that part 
of his life which was devoted to the duties of a pri- 
vate station. And Demetrius, we are told, had a good 
report of all men, and of the truth itself. 

The Christian may not aim to please as a final ob- 
ject, but contrive by pleasing to lead men to repent- 
ance, to faith, to hoj)e, to God. When he seeks to 
please others for any other purpose, he offends his 
o^Ti conscience. "What Christian who has returned 
to his closet from a company into which he bore the 
simple intent to be complaisant, has not been pain- 
fully sensible of having carnalized his affections, dis- 
sipated serious thoughts, and banished from his heart 
every holy and serene joy ? How comfortless is the 
suspicion that we have pleased any soul to its tem- 



286 DIVIXE LAW OF COMPLAISANCE. 

poral hui't or its eternal unhappiness. " Let every 
one of us please his neighbor for his good to edi- 
fication." 

Some religions people appear to think that to per- 
form a deed elegantly is to deprive it of half its value ; 
that the demands of duty are so m-gent they must be 
pardoned for a gruff and ungentle execution of them. 
They know of no way of performing a difiicult act, 
except by a headlong plunge. There are others, on 
the contrary, who sin for the sake of being agreeable, 
and sacrifice their consciences on the altar of the 
heathen graces. Between general offensiveness and 
unlimited complaisance, there lies a way of pleasant- 
ness and a path of peace. Let the conduct of the 
Christian say to the man of the world : I would sac- 
rifice anything but the truth of God and my con- 
science to please you. For reconciling antipathies, 
overcoming prejudices, and composing differences, 
a blunt directness of address is not so successful as 
it is customary. It is a mathematical truism that 
the shortest distance between two points is a straight 
line, but courtesy would humbly advise us sometimes 
to unite them by a graceful curve. 



CHAPTEK XYI. 

FLEXIBILITY OF MANNEES AND INFLEXIBILITY OF 
PEINCIPLE. 

" Flexlbility," says Cardinal de Retz, "is the 
most important qualification for the management of 
great aflairs."^' If this maxim is true in politics, it 
is equally so in religion. The feelings excited and 
nnrtured by Gospel truth, are of the strongest and 
most unconquerable kind, and whether they be those 
of attachment or aversion, none but the most mild 
and conciliating methods will generally serve to di- 
rect or overcome them. Every ambassador for Christ, 
— and, in an inferior sense, every Christian is one — 
in the work of reconciliation, will find use for the 
most extensive knowledge of the human character, 
and the readiest skill in adapting his behavior to all 
its varieties. And as he meets with diversities of 
mind, knowledge, rank, and condition, he will feel 
the constant obligation to follow the apostolic prece- 
dent, " making a difference." He will also find scope 
for the exercise of such faculties in reconciling breth- 
ren to each other and to the truth. To such a ser- 
vice Paul could bring the aid of his admirable tact 
and address. His epistle to Philemon, recommend- 

^'' La flexibilite est de toutes les qualities la plus necessaire pour 
la maniement des graudes affaires." 



288 FLEXIBILITY OF MANNERS AND 

ing to him Onesimus his fugitive slave, is not sur- 
passed by anything in the history of diplomacy. 

The Holy Scriptures have not left the Christian 
destitute of the brightest examples of this most valu- 
able quality. Leaving out of view the examples 
which the Hebrew narratives supply, let us once 
more contemplate that Perfect Original, after which 
we ought to be always modelling our conduct. His 
manners most admirably accorded with every cir- 
cumstance of his life and mission. Whether we 
view him as a weary traveller seated at noontide by 
Jacob's well, talking with the ignorant and vicious 
woman of Samaria, or as a religious teacher retired 
for the night discoursing mth the inquisitive and 
learned J^icodemus ; whether we contemplate him in 
the halls of the rich publican at Capernaum, or in the 
humble cottage of Martha and Mary, at the marriage 
feast of Cana, or at the grave of Lazarus ; whether 
rebuking the proud, or encouraging the humble — 
preaching to the various multitude, and plucking the 
flowers of his inimitable eloquence from the fields 
amid which he spoke, or arguing with the scribes, 
Pharisees, and lawyers, silencing them by appeals 
to their own laws ; whether we behold him making 
his jDublic entrance into Jerusalem amid the homage 
and acclamations of great processions, or led with- 
out her walls, stooping under his cross and compassed 
by an exulting rabble — we must in each instance ad- 
mire the fitness of his behavior to person, time, 
place, and condition. ■ He who could lay aside his 
regal dignity in celestial palaces, came down to his 
rebellious dominions in this lower world and grace 
the office of a servant, has given us no evidence that 



INFLEXIBILITY OF PRINCIPLE. 289 

he wanted flexibility of manners. Many abuses in 
the civil and religions institutions of the land he did 
not directly attack, but, passing them in silence, he 
everywhere taught precepts which would eventually 
destroy them. He directed his disciples to adapt 
their behavior to their circumstances. When he 
sent them on their first mission, he forbade them to 
provide themselves with purse, scrip, and shoes for 
their journey. But when he was about to send 
them abroad among all nations, under less favorable 
auspices, he commanded them to furnish themselves 
witli the very articles he before denied them. He 
instructed them to salute a house when they entered 
it, but not to stop and salute men ceremoniously by 
the way ; to pronounce a benediction on the house- 
hold which treated them kindly, but to withhold it 
from that which should not ; to receive thankfully 
the hospitality of a city when oflered, but when 
denied, to depart, shaking the dust from their feet ; 
to seek entertainment in some worthy family, and 
sojourn in it till they left the place, and not to go 
from house to house in quest of hospitality. In en- 
joining on his disciples these and other observances, 
he taught them to use pliancy, prudence, and tact 
in their intercourse with all sorts of men. 

But while they were to accommodate themselves to 
the customs of all men, they were not to yield a single 
point of conscience to any, or bend the rule of truth 
to their crooked passions and misshapen notions. 
Their master was careful to annex to the prudential 
precepts he gave them the following injunction : "Be 
ye wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." By this 
command he undoubtedly meant nothing less than 
N 



290 FLEXIBILITY OF MANNERS AND 

that they should be flexible in their deportment. 
The serpent is the most versatile of creatures. He 
can adapt his pliant and spiral energies to every 
emergency and condition. In his motions he can 
be as swift as the pigeon, or as slow as the tortoise. 
He traces wdth ease the most crooked j)aths, gliding 
down a declivity, across a ravine, or through a 
hedge : and the same undulating movement which 
bears him through a meadow enables him to swim 
over a brook. He curls himself into a circle, rolls 
himself into a ball, moves erect projecting his fiery 
tongue, or reposes on the sunny rock as if harmless 
and tame. His colors vary with his undulations, 
and with each new point of view. He changes his 
coat with the seasons. In one species he sounds a 
rattle, in another he hisses, in another whistles, in 
another bellows. In the character of a rattle-snake, 
he is charmed by the notes of the flute ; as an adder, 
he hearkens not to the song of the charmer, charm 
he ever so melodiously. He takes his prey in three 
elements with singular facility. He catches fish in 
the pond ; he robs the ewe of her milk, and while he 
has no wings wherewith to cleave the upper atmo- 
spliere, he is a deadly enemy to the feathered tribes. 
Winding itself up the trunks of trees he rifles nests of 
their young, or lifting his head high on his coiled tail, 
seizes the bird as it flies, and when he cannot by this 
means secure his victim, he is said to dart still higher 
his fascinating glare, to penetrate it with an over- 
mastering charm, and draw it within the sweep of his 
envenomed fangs.^* Had the Divine Teacher ouly 
bid his disciples " be wise as serpents," they might 
" Buffon, Goldsmith, Shaw, Chateaubriand. 



INFLEXIBILITY OF PRINCIPLE. 291 

have been expected to ask whether it was consonant 
with their profession and office to blend in their man- 
ners the versatility of the serpent with his malice. 
But, as if anticipating such an objection, he added, 
■•'and harailess as doves." He knew that if thej 
should use their tractable manners, to execute 
wicked designs, thej would be the most mischiev- 
ous of men ; whereas should they employ them for 
beneficent ends, they would strew with blessings 
every path they might tread. When such powers 
are guided by good-will, they seem to make the 
highest style of Christian; him who, by pleasing 
both God and man, contrives to reconcile apparent 
extremes. Such a being is, it must be avowed, rare in 
any society, and in any country. And, perhaps, one 
reason why there are so few such characters, is found 
in the odium, in which the serpent is generally held, 
and wliich keeps men from studying his qualities 
and copying them. But were the serpent to be 
despoiled of his malignity, and men of their recol- 
lection of it, he would come to be a greater favorite 
than the dove — nestled in all bosoms — cherished as 
a universal pet. 

The twofold excellence in question is strikingly ex- 
emplified in the apostle Paul. So completely were 
these qualities mingled in his character that he could 
shape his demeanor to every variety of circumstances, 
without prejudicing in any degree his sincerity and 
integrity. In describing the manner of his entrance 
into the hearts of so many opposite classes of man- 
kind, he says, "Though I be free from all, yet have 
I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the 
more. And unto the Jews I became a Jew that I 



292 FLEXIBILITY OF MANNERS AND 

might win the Jews ; to them that are under the law 
as under the law, that I might gain them that are 
under the law ; to them that are without law as with- 
out law, that I might gain them that are without 
law. To the weak became I weak, that I might gain 
the weak ; I am made all things to all men, that I 
might by all means save some." Unless we bear in 
mind the early advantages and experiences of Paul, 
we may sometimes be led to regard him as a parasite, 
sacrificing truth and honesty to a desire of pleasing. 
But when we reflect that he was born at Tarsus and 
educated at Jerusalem ; first a ^persecuting Pharisee ; 
then a gentle Christian ; a privileged Roman citi- 
zen, yet entitled to the advantages of Jewish institu- 
tions ; an apostle of Jesus Christ, eloquent both as an 
orator and a writer ; and master of several languages, 
yet a tent-maker ; endowed with power to perform 
miracles, but afflicted with infirmities, — when we re- 
flect on these things we can easily understand how, 
by availing himself of the advantages of his birth, ed- 
ucation, gifts, rights, and experiences, he might adopt 
the manners of a great variety of characters, and 
show a tender fellow-feeling for them without the 
slightest resort to- dissimulation and artifice. To all 
these facilities he added a frankness and afiability 
which obtained .for him a passport into the fortresses 
of his enemies, and enabled him to push his moral 
conquests over the selfishness, superstition, and idol- 
atry of mankind, to the utmost limits of the civilized 
world. He lost no opportunity of securing the confi- 
dence and esteem of men. By his amenities, he 
gained the friendship of Julius, a courtly centurion 
who was carrying him in chains to Bome, and who 



INFLEXIBILITY OF PRINCIPLE. 293 

during a storm at sea, would, but for his attachment 
to Paul, have suffered his soldiers to put all the pris- 
oners to the sword. Yet none of his expedients are 
dissonant with magnanimity. He betrays the great- 
ness of his soul as well when on one occasion he con- 
fesses himself to be the least of all saints, as when on 
another, he declares that he is not a whit behind the 
chiefest of the apostles ; when he suffers persecution 
joyfully, and when he refuses to be scourged contra- 
ry to law ; when he allows himself to be illegally im- 
prisoned, and refuses to be liberated except by the 
magistrate who sentenced him to chains ; when he 
owns that he labored with his hands, and when he 
asserts his claims to Koman citizenship. 

He did not fear the charge of inconsistency when on 
the tempestuous seas he said the crew could not be 
saved unless they heeded his directions, and yet had 
confessed it had been revealed to him that none of 
them should be lost. And though the personal char- 
acter of Festus deserved not to be respected, the apos- 
tle v/ith his usual deference to autliority, addresses 
him by the appellation of " most noble." What a 
blending of dignity and humility, of decision and 
gentleness, appears in his defence before the pomp 
and attendance of the united courts of Agrippa and 
Festus. He detested flatter}^ but he could justly and 
delicately compliment the king before whom he was 
tried. 

Without compromising an iota of essential truth, 
he would cheerfully comply with the wishes of oth- 
ers in things indifferent. Habitually tender and 
meek, he could firmly oppose the double-dealing of 
Peter ; and with the severest censures to his converts. 



294 FLEXIBILITY OF MANNERS AND 

could mingle all the praise they deserved. He yield- 
ed nutliing either to Jndaist or Paganist ; still he 
accommodated himself to the maimers and habits of 
both. Whether he is reasoning with the Jew, concil- 
iating the Pharisee, or confounding the Saddncee, 
disputing with the Stoic or the Epicurean, or instruct- 
ing and persuading the idolater, the versatility of 
his powers alike appears. His judicious conduct in 
Asia Minor in conforming to the harmless scruples 
of his kinsmen the Jews ; his dexterity and decision 
among the idolatrous, but polite, inquisitive, and 
philosophic citizens of Athens;" the nobleness of his 
bearing towards the hosi)itable islanders of Melita ; 
his complaisant gravity at the elegant and voluptu- 
ous court of Caesar; all his movements between the 
streets of Jerusalem and the mountains of Illyri- 
cum, all the recorded actions of his eventful life con- 
firm his own words, " I am made all things to all 
men." 

What was the animating principle of all this lithe- 
ness of deportment ? It was a heaven-kindled love for 
his kind. This compliance with the habits, tastes and 
feelings of others was practised, that he " might by all 
means save some." It was the innocence and fondness 
of the dove that prompted and guided the arts of the 
serpent. While his one purpose was the entire renova- 
tion of human nature, he adjusted his manners to all 
its obliquities and tortuosities, without deviating in 
any degree from rectitude of principle, or cooling 
at all the ardor with which he wrought good and 
travelled heavenward. He was like the river Mean- 
der which he crossed in his journeyings : it now 
curves majestically along the bases of mountains, 



INFLEXIBILITY OF PRINCIPLE. 295 

and now winds gracefully throngli unbroken plains, 
yielding in its lambent flow to a barren rock on this 
bank and a blooming grove on that, but always re- 
flecting the light of heaven, pursuing the same gen- 
eral coui-se, and rolling its waters into the sea toward 
the same point in the horizon whither they glide from 
the fountain at its lofty source. ^^ 

It will be seen that the Gospel law on this subject, 
is at war with the lax and compliant morality of the 
Jesuits. They accommodate all their opinions, and 
practices to circumstances, and make every virtue 
yield to a selfish and bigoted expediency. They 
think that a supposed good jiiurpose warrants the use 
of violent means, and to excuse every species of 
cpiibbling, disingenuousness and fraud. This law is 
equally hostile to the scheme of " Double doctrine," 
or " Reserve," as held by the Roman and Roman- 
izing clergy of our times, which bears a close resem- 
blance to the duplicity of Loyola, and to that of 
Pythagoras and his followers, including the theolo- 
gians of Alexandria, who divided doctrines into two 
classes, the esoteric and the exoteric. The foi'mer 
were to be believed by the privileged and initiated 
disciples, and the latter were to be taught to the 

39 Porphyiy, a subtle enemy of Christianity, alluding to Paul's 
withstanding Peter to the face, charges him with rudeness and inci- 
vility. It was proper, however, that he should administer the rebuke 
publicU^ as the offence had been committed in public. The matter 
of his address is cool reasoning :* with respect to the manner we are 
left in the dark. Paul's decision and ardor may have occasionally 
been excessive. With his pre-eminent piety he was, according to his 
own conviction and confession, an imperfect man, and ought not 
therefore to be considered an infalUbls and exclusive pattern. 

* Gal. 2 ch. 



296 FLEXIBILITY OF MANNERS AND 

ignorant and precluded multitude. This double-deal- 
ing has no place in the policy taught by our Divine 
Master, which is as innocent as it is transparent, and 
commends itself not only to the judicious, but to the 
benevolent. It stands in strong contrast witli the 
craftiness and dissimulation of the Pharisees, which 
he repeatedly and severely rebuked. 

And it is worth while to add that the policy we 
are recommending, can be employed only in the ad- 
vancement of the pure Gospel. When the Gospel is 
corrupted, the policy by which men prefer to forward 
it becomes eqally corruj^t ; on the other hand, a false 
policy can only avail in the furtherance of a spurious 
religion. The apostles were taught a prudence which 
was in perfect harmony with the benevolence of 
the purposes which were to be accomplished by its 
aid ; and the first attempt which was made by St. 
Peter to spread Christianity by dissimulation, was 
promptly exposed and defeated by St. Paul. Isov 
was tliere any need of dissimulation to assist in plant- 
ing the primitive churches. The simplicity of their 
economy, rejecting as they did, all unessential and 
burdensome ceremonies, gained for them an easy en- 
trance into every form of society, and at the same 
time held out to the apostles little temptation to prac- 
tise those pious frauds that would have been required 
to establish a more complicated system among preju- 
diced communities. And when we turn to the liis- 
toi-y of churches, we are struck with the steady and 
healthful growth of those which, from the apostolical 
origin of their doctrines, ordinances and government, 
are wonderfully adapted to the wants and condition 
of all the nations of the earth. "We are also struck 



INFLEXIBILITY OF PRINCIPLE. 297 

with the proportional decay of those which are more 
or less "corrupted from the simplicity that is in 
Christ." The latter must in general be composed 
either of persons who do not believe what they pro- 
fess, or of those who are profoundly ignorant of the 
inspired writings. And they can only make prose- 
lytes by openly holding out temporal rewards or pen- 
alties, or else by secretly pursuing a Jesuitical line 
of policy. They cannot press into the service of error 
the harmless wisdom which our divine Instructor 
teaches: The moment the attempt is made, the dove 
and the serpent are put asunder. The latter returns 
to his diabolical arts, and the former flies quickly away. 
A supple deportment not supported by unyielding 
principle, is passiveness and servility ; unprompted 
by kind intentions, it is dissimulation, hypocrisy, 
and flattery. He who has a conscience and a creed 
so pliable that he can be obsequious to wrong and 
error, is as incapable of pleasing as he is of profiting 
honest men, and he who seems equally comj^liant in 
his manners and opinions will be suspected of con- 
cealing beneath these soft appearances a false heart 
and a base design. 

On the other hand, he who has inflexibility of jDrin- 
ciple, but wants flexibility of manners, is liable to 
the charge of obstinacy and severity. He neglects 
the proprieties of person, time, and place. Some 
men are useful in their calling or profession and un- 
wavering in faith, and aim, but they are so deficient 
in tact and wisdom, that their pious exertions are al- 
most worthless to the generality of men. They are 
too stern and dogmatic. Their arrows are let off ac- 
cording to the strictest rules of archery, and they fly 



298 FLEXIBILITY OF MANNERS AND 

straight towards the enemy, but they are so blunt 
that they do not pierce his heart : they only gall and 
infuriate him. They are strong men but they are 
too much like Goliath ; their strength is not always 
available. They are armed to combat the mighty, 
not common men, who are wont by the aid of skill to 
sujDply the deficiencies of their strength. They are 
pious, but their j^iety is too gigantic for worms of the 
dust, and their mode of showing it is so untoward, 
that the world is slow to allow that they have any. 

The firm mind and the soft manner unite in form- 
ing the symmetrical character. But w^hile we copy 
the wisdom of the serpent, let us never forget to dis- 
place his malevolence by the kindness of the dove. 
There may be the most resolute maintenance of bad 
dispositions as well as good ones, and there may be 
perfect facility of behavior without a single grain 
of good-will. A purpose inflexibly dark and crafty 
is often coupled with a manner flexibly deceitful and 
cold. But when Christian love binds the flexible to 
the inflexible, every one must admire the felicity of 
the union. It is this love that gives a sacred pleas- 
antness to the unwavering mind, and a holy dignity to 
pliant manners. When the apostle Paul declares 
that God gives us "the spirit of love," as well "of a 
sound mind," and exhorts us to " hold fast the form 
of sound words in love," " to speak the truth in love," 
and " in meekness to instruct them that oppose them- 
selves," he is essentially insisting upon this very union 
of firmness and pliancy. Holy love softens the ex- 
pressions of a firm mind, sweetens the cup of bitter 
teachings, and takes captive the heart before unstoop- 
ing truth has conciliated the intellect. 



INFLEXIBILITY OF PRINCIPLE. 299 

But while we should always be able to yield, we 
ought also to know when to be unyielding. The wis- 
dom that would dictate the use of indirect and sub- 
missive methods with some persons, would teach a 
resort to such as are direct and summary with others. 
Some men by adopting a style of manners as inflexi- 
ble as the doctrines they advanced, have brought to 
their aid the fluctuating multitude, convinced the 
doubting that their designs were sincere and be- 
nevolent, and recommended their cause to general 
confidence, thereby bearing down all opposition, 
and raising the cross over altars and shrines wdiich 
could not otherwise have been demolished. After 
the manner of Cromwell, they have defeated the 
enemy, not by manoeuvres to threaten his j)Osition, or 
to cut off his retreat, not by stratagems to disconcert 
his plans, or induce him to change his ground, but 
by an open and vigorous onset in the name of the 
Lord of Hosts. 

With this subject we take leave of the reader. 
Much more might be said, and much more ought to 
be said on many points, which we have only touched 
upon. The courteous feeling should direct every 
minute and intricate duty of life, and like the con- 
science, it needs to be duly enlightened before it can 
be safely followed. "We must add, however, that no 
degree of enlightenment can be a sufficient substitute 
for observation and watchfulness, or authorize any one 
to feel a blind confidence in his own accomplish- 
ments ; and he will have profited little by the forego- 
ing pages, who rises from their perusal to commence 
captious critic upon the behavior of his fellow- worms. 



300 FLEXIBILITY OF MANNERS. 

To those who desire to attain to excellence in cour- 
tesy, we again recommend the cultivation of that 
evangelical love, whence it springs. It is this that 
gives the last touch and highest polish to the Chris- 
tian character, and imparts to it an unfading loveli- 
ness. If it was a happy fancy of the Grecians that 
the goddess of beauty charmed by means of her girdle 
of grace, it is a practical truth that the Christian 
charms by the help of his girdle of charity — that 
girdle which, imparting to the soul it compasses the 
power to please God, and all godlike men, is denomi- 
nated by Him who wove it, " The bond of perfect- 
ness.'' 



THE END. 



NOTICE. 

The author of this work will shortly prepare 
for the press another ox Coxveesatio:n', " a topic 
which deserves a volume," as Mr. Abbott in his 
"Young Christian" justly remarks. 



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